


Foreign Tongues

by Xenobia



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anal, Brazilian!Eren, Crushes, Fluff, Foreign Language, Humor, M/M, Milestones, Misunderstandings, Multicultural, Oral Sex, Rimming, Role Switching, Surfing, Valentine's Day, Yaoi, factory setting, intercourse, language barriers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-27 08:06:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 26,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17762963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xenobia/pseuds/Xenobia
Summary: The new guy that might or might not be the Brazilian mentioned yesterday hopped up lightly on the side of the cutting machine to look at one of the parts. He turned around, and Levi got his first glimpse of his face. Bronze tan, handsome almost to the point of pretty, he had a little facial hair growth above his lip and on his chin. Not a full mustache and beard; just a couple days' neglect of a razor. The guy glanced up from his task, and his eyes met Levi's across the distance.He was too far away to tell for sure, but Levi could have sworn those eyes flashed like emeralds. He thought he saw a glint of metal in the guy's earlobes, suggesting they were pierced. For a span of several heartbeats, Levi and the green-eyed newbie just stared at each other.The sudden noise of his sewing machine rattling was the first thing to startle Levi out of his spell, and that was quickly followed up by jabbing through his finger and lancing up his arm. Levi abruptly took his foot off the operation pedal to stop the machine, compressed his lips and looked down at his hand."Uh, Levi?""Yeah.""Did you just sew your finger?""...Yeah."





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been wanting to try writing a story in which there was a language barrier forcing a pairing to use other means of communication. Recent manga chapters have also depressed me, so I wanted something light-hearted and fun. Here it is, and there may eventually be more. I think if there is, I'll add it as additional chapter installments; mini stories in one package, if you will. I hope Ereri fans will enjoy this story. It's a bit long for a single chapter.

Levi guided the heavy, rolled up length of thick material over the needle plate of the double-stitch, industrial sewing machine. It was a rather labor intensive task, requiring both dexterity and strength to manipulate the product. It might appear easy to onlookers that knew no better, but that was only because Levi had been doing this long enough to make it look that way. 

He finished sewing the soft cover, snipped the thread and then began the painstaking task of folding it into a neat square to be set aside for fastener attachment later. Levi retrieved more of the material piled up by his work station, unfurled it over the massive table to prepare it for assembly and took up the piece of white graphite he kept in his pocket. He stuck the pencil between his teeth as he flipped the material around to search for the notches.

"I fucking hate these four hundreds," muttered Levi around the pencil.

Across from him on the other side of the table, Farlan paused in his frantic flipping and sewing of his own personal hell. He smirked. "At least you can use the tacking machine to add the accessories to yours. Try sewing on your 100th mesh underlay of the day only to find out you've put it on backwards, have to undo your stitching and hope to hell you line up the new stitches well enough that it isn't tossed as a defect."

Farlan sighed in a bereaved manner, scratched his white-blond head and adjusted the glasses he was wearing. He only used them when sewing particularly complicated pieces or when reading.

"You're gonna fuck up your eyes using those things for this," Levi predicted, pulling the pencil out of his mouth to start marking the notches. "They're called _'reading glasses'_ , not ' _sewing glasses'_."

"Same concept," countered Farlan. He started getting back to work, muttering under his breath and adjusting the little snake light attached to his machine. "The glasses help me see my stitching better. I get paid extra commission by the cover, remember? If I screw up and don't make my quota, I take home less on my paycheck."

Levi shrugged, giving up on the argument. Honestly, he thought Farlan wore those glasses more to attract the attention of the girl responsible for sewing cover skirts one table down from him. She seemed to have a thing for guys with glasses, and Farlan conveniently started wearing his to work shortly after hearing about it.

Levi painstakingly rolled up the heavy material so that he could fit it through his machine for sewing. He sat down, lined it up for the first stitch and started to press down on the pedal. There was some ruckus out on the production floor, and Levi glanced up with a little frown of annoyance. He'd forgotten his headphones today, so he was going to have to put up with all of the background noise of machinery without his music to drown it out.

"Now what?" muttered Levi. He narrowed his eyes upon realizing that the source of the noise disturbance was coming from the far back of the factory where all the cutting took place and the heavy machinery was.

There was a new guy on the floor. He'd apparently jammed up one of the cutting machines and two of the other cutters were now working on it. The new guy's back was turned to Levi. He had long chestnut hair gathered into a ponytail. Broad shoulders, athletic of build but not bulky, he was above average height; about six feet. He was wearing a flannel shirt and a pair of gray denim pants.

"Nice ass," Levi mumbled, confident that his observation couldn't be heard over all of the factory noise.

Farlan had paused again as well, and he looked at the spectacle with interest. "Looks like we've got a new mechanic."

"Mechanic?" repeated Levi. He then understood what his friend meant. The new guy wasn't trying to cut material after all. He was watching the cutters as they pointed out things with the machine and gestured. It looked like they were trying to explain what the problem was.

"Must not speak English," guessed Levi.

"I heard something about them hiring someone from Brazil," announced Farlan. "The floor supervisor mentioned it yesterday."

"Oh yeah?" Levi hadn't been there yesterday. He'd been taking a rostered day off to get his car serviced.

Farlan nodded. "There was a meeting. Mainly about safety on the floor, but a few of us spoke up about the state of some of the machines since our old mechanic quit. Some of us have learned how to troubleshoot our own machines enough to keep them going, but that's not good enough and we need a real mechanic to keep production going smoothly. That's when they mentioned the Brazilian hiree. That must be him."

"Good," stated Levi. He'd had enough with the frustration of struggling with his bobbins constantly getting jammed up and slowing down his work. He wasn't thrilled about the communication barrier, but he was used to working around that problem. More than half of the workers in his place of business were immigrants, and only a few were bilingual. Levi himself had learned a few phrases in Spanish thanks to hearing so much of it at work.

"I've really got to look into picking up a second language sometime."

"Who has the time for that?" reasoned Farlan. "That's some hard shit to pick up on if you don't start it while you're a kid."

"But not impossible."

"You know how much those Rosetta Stone programs cost?" persisted Farlan. "At least a hundred dollars per volume. I know; I wanted to learn Japanese. My wallet just can't take it."

Levi shrugged. There were other options besides expensive computer programs. Granted, a lot of the free options weren't legit or accurate, but it was out there if someone was determined enough to look for it.

The new guy that might or might not be the Brazilian mentioned yesterday hopped up lightly on the side of the cutting machine to look at one of the parts. He turned around, and Levi got his first glimpse of his face. Bronze tan, handsome almost to the point of pretty, he had a little facial hair growth above his lip and on his chin. Not a full mustache and beard; just a couple days' neglect of a razor. The guy glanced up from his task, and his eyes met Levi's across the distance.

He was too far away to tell for sure, but Levi could have sworn those eyes flashed like emeralds. He thought he saw a glint of metal in the guy's earlobes, suggesting they were pierced. For a span of several heartbeats, Levi and the green-eyed newbie just stared at each other.

The sudden noise of his sewing machine rattling was the first thing to startle Levi out of his spell, and that was quickly followed up by jabbing through his finger and lancing up his arm. Levi abruptly took his foot off the operation pedal to stop the machine, compressed his lips and looked down at his hand.

"Uh, Levi?"

"Yeah."

"Did you just sew your finger?"

"...Yeah."

Farlan jumped up out of his chair and hurried around the connected tables and machines to get to Levi's side. He bent over the smaller male to survey the damage, and he grimaced. "Ouch. Hold on a second."

Levi held perfectly still, flushing with embarrassment while Farlan got his snippers and cut the thread free from Levi's finger. Blood was pooling beneath Levi's hand, trickling rapidly from his abused digit. He was stoic about the pain; he'd always had a high tolerance to it. More troublesome to Levi was the fact that he'd just earned himself another day off and possibly a trip to the emergency room, all because of a pretty face and a pair of green eyes.

* * *

Levi and Farlan went to the first aid cabinet to clean up his injury and get it bandaged. The head supervisor had already given the nod for Levi to clock out early and get medical attention. Farlan helped him tend the wound, and Levi mutely watched while the sandy-blond male dabbed at his torn flesh with a sterilizing pad.

"That's pretty bad," remarked Farlan. "You might need to get a tetanus shot if you haven't had one in a while."

"Yeah." Levi winced the slightest bit. "It's just going to keep bleeding, Farlan. You've cleaned it out enough. We've got to put pressure on it."

"Right."

Farlan put aside the astringent and gauze to select some bandaids. While he was getting them opened up to apply them, a shadow fell over the two of them. Levi glanced up to see the very face that had been the cause of his recklessness, peering down at him. The new guy's eyes were definitely green, but at this proximity, Levi could see that there were flecks of gold in those vivid irises as well. His ears were pierced too, Levi confirmed. He had a silver stud in each lobe.

The new guy frowned, looking at Levi's bleeding hand. He hissed in sympathy, shook his head and spoke.

"Ai!"

His voice was low, resonant and pleasant to the ears. Though Levi didn't understand the short word the guy had used, the meaning behind it was clear enough to him.

"Yeah. _'Ai'_."

The new guy clucked his tongue, and then he surprised Levi by reaching out and patting his shoulder. He then retreated a bit awkwardly. It seemed to Levi that he'd wanted to say more, but he must have realized Levi wouldn't understand it.

"He seems nice," Farlan commented. He applied two bandaids tightly to Levi's injury.

Levi didn't comment. He didn't even know the new guy's name, but hearing him say that one little thing had done something strange to him. Levi wasn't the sort to fetishize exotic accents or foreign people, but he'd felt such a charge when that guy approached and spoke to him.

He didn't even know his name.

* * *

Levi went to the company walk-in clinic since his injury happened at work. He didn't need stitches, but they did give him a tetanus booster and three days' leave from work to recover. Obviously since his job required the use of both hands, he couldn't perform his usual duties and would have to be on light duty for a little while. He hated missing work simply because he was a "doer", and he liked to feel like he was accomplishing something day by day. At least he was getting paid sick leave while he was out of commission.

While he recovered, Levi decided to do a little research. First, he looked up the what language people from Brazil spoke, helplessly curious after hearing the new guy speak to him. After that, he called up Farlan and asked him to find out more about the new mechanic.

"You're really interested in him, aren't you?" surmised the blond over the phone.

"He's our new mechanic, isn't he?" Levi excused. "I'd like to at least know the guy's fucking name so I can call him over when my machine craps out on me. What else am I supposed to do, shout: _'Hey you'_ at him?"

Farlan chuckled. "That's actually a good point. All right, I'll find out what his name is. I can at least communicate enough with him for that."

"Thanks, Farlan."

"So what are you going to do with your time off?" asked the blond, switching the subject. "It must be driving you crazy to miss work, even if you complain about doing the soft covers all the time."

"Dunno," admitted Levi. He looked around at his small efficiency apartment, and his eyes went to the chin-up bars attached to the top of the arch leading into his kitchen. "Probably work out, do a little reading, maybe go see a movie. It's been a while since I've had so many days off in a row."

"Just don't overdo it and open your injury back up," advised Farlan.

"Stop acting like a nursemaid," countered Levi gruffly. "I'm not an idiot."

Farlan yawned. "Well, it's past my bedtime and unlike you, I still have to get up at the crack of dawn for work. I'll get the new guy's name tomorrow and call after I get home to let you know, okay?"

"Thanks. Goodnight."

* * *

Levi liked the name Farlan provided for him the next day, but he was puzzled over its origins. "Eren Jaeger? Are you sure you heard that right?"

"That's what he told me," answered Farlan.

Levi pondered it. The name Eren certainly suited that hot looking brunet, but Jaeger? "That doesn't sound very Brazilian to me."

"I thought the same thing," admitted Farlan. "Maybe he changed his name when he moved here. Who knows? He doesn't speak any English and I don't know Portuguese, so that was all I could get out of him."

Levi absorbed the information silently. Interesting. Eren's surname was German in origin, wasn't it? It meant Hunter or something along those lines. Was it as Farlan hypothesized and he changed his name upon migrating to the states? If that was the case, Levi wondered if he'd chosen it for a reason, or if it was just a random surname he liked the sound of.

"You still there bro?"

"Yeah. I'm still here." He didn't dare tell Farlan that he was now more curious about Eren than ever. His friend knew his tastes ran to guys and Levi didn't want any bullshit over this.

It seemed he was going to get some anyway, however.

"He's good-looking," observed Farlan keenly. "Seems like your type. Maybe you ought to look into picking up some Portuguese, since you seem so interested in learning another language."

Levi clenched his jaw. "That's not why I wanted to find out his name, idiot. What do you think I am?"

"Ah, I think you're a guy just like me. Well, not _just_ like me, but you've got needs, right?"

"I'm not going after the new guy," insisted Levi—though he did admit, he hadn't been with anyone for some time. "I just wanted to know a little about him since he's going to be messing with my machines. Seems pretty reasonable, wouldn't you think?"

Farlan made a sound that was like a half sigh and a half grunt. "All right. You're pretty protective of your equipment after all and...hah...sorry man, I just made myself laugh."

Levi couldn't resist a quiet grin over the unintentional pun. "Yeah, I'm protective of my 'equipment'. You got that right."

Matter of fact, Levi tended to be just a little _too_ protective of his equipment; both mechanical and of the flesh. It had taken a while for the last mechanic to gain enough trust from Levi for him to let him work on his machines without hovering over him like a prey bird guarding its chicks. Of all the sewers in the factory, Levi had the greatest understanding of how to manage his machines and troubleshoot them without any formal training. His knowledge was limited though, and he'd been very frustrated when that mechanic had enough and quit. It was going on over a month now since they'd had one on the floor, and all of the machines were suffering for it.

As for the more personal...equipment...Levi was notoriously picky about his sexual partners. He looked a lot, he enjoyed the view, but he rarely acted on his interests. Concerns about personal hygiene and medical history were always forefront in his mind when considering a partner. Sadly, not many were able to meet his standards. Those who did never lasted for long.

"Levi, are you falling asleep on me?" prompted Farlan.

"Sorry. I guess I'm just picturing the train wreck I might come back to find at my work stations once I'm released to come back."

"Hmm. It figures. Would it make you feel better if I keep an eye on him while you're gone? I'll keep you updated on your 'babies', if you want."

Levi thought about it. He nodded. "Yeah. I don't need to know every little detail, but if you see him do a test run and parts start flying, let me know. I'd appreciate that."

* * *

As tiresome as his typical ten hour work days could be, Levi was relieved to get back. He wasn't allowed to mess with the cutting machines and he had to limit himself to the cover caps and smaller soft covers for a few days, but otherwise he was back on track. He started his first day back amid greetings in various languages from his co-workers. He even gave a couple of them—the ones he liked working with the most—the tiniest smile of gratitude for their enthusiasm.

"Levi," called Albina with a smile when he started on the strap list. "Buenos dias!" She waved and hurried over to him, her wrapped braid swinging behind her. She pointed out the previous day's straps and made a face, picking out one of them to show it to him and shaking her head.

Levi looked at it, saw the tears in the stitching and grunted. "Buenos dias. Who the hell sewed these?"

Albina grimaced and gave a nod at one of the sewers on the make line. She spread her hands and shrugged before speaking in a hushed voice to him. "He try, but no bueno. Not Levi."

Albina then grinned toothily at him and slapped him on the arm meaningfully. Not many people could get away with a smack like that, but Levi made an exception for her robust body language. Facial expressions and hand gestures were largely how most factory workers communicated with each other, and he truly liked the ladies in the production line.

"Well, I'm back now," Levi told her, knowing she'd only catch part of it. He gestured as he talked, pointing at the strap, shaking his head and then pointing at the machine before tapping himself on the chest. "I'll fix it."

"Ah, good!" She smiled again, but then she frowned upon glancing down at Levi's right hand. The finger he'd accidentally sewn through was still bandaged. "This though...no bueno. No more of this, okay?"

"No more," promised Levi. "No bueno, right. I'll be more careful."

Seemingly satisfied, Albina gave him one more smile before returning to her work station with the others on her production line. Levi sighed and began the task of sorting out the defective straps—which were nearly all of the ones crafted during his absence—from the good ones. He then went to cutting to select material for new batches, based on the list he'd been given.

_~Shit.~_

Levi pulled up on a halt just as he was about to count out some aquamarine colored vinyl strips. Eren was there observing the overhead production line, and today the guy was wearing a deep green muscle shirt due to the warmer forecast. He had his arms hanging down at his sides as he monitored the sliding mechanics overhead. His legs were slightly apart and he was wearing khaki work pants. His keys were attached to his tool belt, and his Adam's apple was obscenely, beautifully displayed with his head tilted back.

Someone coming up behind Levi dropped something heavy, and the loud clatter startled him out of his daze. Levi turned to see one of the warehouse stockers swearing and bending over to collect some pvc pipes scattered on the factory floor. They must have slipped loose from the plastic wrapping securing them all together.

Remembering he'd come to this part of the production floor for a reason, Levi turned back around and strode purposely to the material racks. As he selected the colors and strip sizes he needed, he detected an intriguing whiff of cologne...or maybe it was aftershave. It had a spiced scent to it, cloying notes of cedar wood or some other earthy ingredient.

Levi then heard Eren Jaeger's voice speak to him, low and inquisitive. He had no idea what the man had said, but it may as well have been pillow talk for the effect it had on him. He went hot to the tips of his ears, while at the same time, he shivered. Levi turned his head to look at the Brazilian, and he decided the aroma he'd smelled had to be Eren's aftershave. The guy's skin was smooth and free of any facial hair today. He had really great skin, Levi observed.

"Eh...sorry," Levi said when those riveting eyes stared into his. "I don't know what you just said to me."

"Ah." Eren seemed to understand the sentiment behind the reply if not the words themselves. He pointed at Levi's hand; particularly at the bandage on the finger he'd injured.

"Oh, you're asking how my finger's doing," Levi guessed. He nodded. "It's better."

Eren smiled, his teeth glinting white between his lips. He then pointed across the floor at the row of machines that Levi would soon be working on, and he spoke again. He made hand gestures as he talked, curling the right one and making a screwing motion with it.

"You...worked on my machines? Or are you saying you need to repair one of them today?"

Eren tilted his head to the left, wolf-like. His bangs fell over his eye on that side, and he absently reached up to brush them back.

"I don't know why I'm asking," sighed Levi. "You don't understand me any better than I understand you."

"He worked on them for you while you were out sick," informed one of the cutters, evidently noticing the exchange. "He wants to know if you'll try them out and let him know if they need more adjusting."

"Oh." Levi glanced at Gunther, who resumed measuring some material for cutting. "You speak Brazilian? I mean Portuguese?"

Gunther shrugged and started marking the vinyl for his cuts. "Enough to get by. My Portuguese is a little broken, but it gets the job done and Eren's cool about it when I make mistakes."

Eren asked Gunther something, and the darker-haired brunet's normally serious countenance softened to one of quiet amusement. His gaze flicked to Levi and he answered Eren's question. Levi heard his own name come up in Gunther's response, and then Eren looked at him again with a nod and a little smile.

"Levi," said the mechanic in satisfaction. His accent made it sound caressing, to Levi's fevered imagination. The mechanic then pointed at himself. "Eren."

It took Levi a long, drawn out moment to comprehend that this was an introduction. He was probably coming off as rude just standing there staring at Eren like he was an alien life form. As far as Eren knew, this was the first time Levi had heard his name. Gunther cleared his throat after a couple of moments, raising his brows meaningfully at Levi.

"Nice to meet you, Eren," said Levi at last, still partially mesmerized by the sound of his name on those lips.

Gunther translated for him, and Eren smiled again.

_~Goddamn, you're beautiful.~_

Levi tried to recall the last time a smile from a guy had dazzled him like this. He must have been about sixteen, he reckoned. His first real crush used to do this to him with his smiles, but Levi had been just a kid back then...easily excited and at the mercy of teen hormones. As a grown man, his composure had never been so easily shaken by a mere curve of the lips and the flash of pearly teeth.

Eren gestured at the waiting line of machines eagerly. It wasn't hard to figure out that he was anxious to please Levi, and that made the smaller man's face go warm.

"Yeah, the machines," said Levi. "I get it. Relax, I'm about to get started on the morning list, so you'll get your feedback soon enough."

Levi finished gathering up the material he needed, purposely turning away from Eren before he could be stupified again by the man's peridot stare. He needed to make it a point not to sew through his other fingers and fuck himself up more. He had rent to pay and he couldn't do that if he disabled himself to the point where he couldn't work anymore.

After getting his vinyl, Levi carried it over to his production line and got started. He checked the oil level in the first machine before sitting down at it and getting started on the smaller straps. He approached the task gingerly, unsure of what to expect. Farlan hadn't reported witnessing any mishaps with Eren's work duties, so that was at least something. Taking a deep breath, feeling foolish for being so territorial over a machine, Levi began to run the first strip through.

The pedal was much easier to press down on than he was used to, and Levi hissed and caught himself before he could ruin the stitching. He took a moment before resuming, and he proceeded with more caution. Slow, steady taps of the pedal at first, until he got more used to the change in the feel of it. Once he gained more confidence, Levi observed that the machine ran much smoother than before. The noise it made while in operation was even reduced. In the time they'd gone without a real mechanic, Levi had stopped noticing the racket so much.

The needles punched through the material cleanly, leaving behind twin segmented lines of white in a straight row. Without realizing it, Levi started to smile. How many mornings had he been forced to _fight_ these machines to get a clean stitch for the ladies on the hard cover production line? He'd lost count.

He became aware of Eren's presence when he smelled that delightful aftershave of his again. Levi paused and looked up to find the Brazilian watching him. Eren smiled when their eyes met, and then he spoke the first word of English Levi had heard from him.

"Good?"

Levi didn't want to be too quick to praise Eren's work. He still had four other machines to work on before he could form a solid opinion. "We'll see."

Eren's brows furrowed, feathering over confused eyes. It served as a reminder to Levi that just because Eren knew a couple of words in English, it didn't mean he could comprehend what he was saying. Levi sighed, and he pointed at the machine he was currently on.

"This one is good," he said slowly, nodding for emphasis.

The way Eren's eyes lit up at the confirmation made Levi avert his gaze or risk saying something stupid and inappropriate. He could have sworn Eren's eyes changed colors from green to yellow just now, but he'd never heard of chameleon irises before.

"Don't get too excited," warned Levi, relying on his tone to help communicate with the exotic young man. He motioned at the bigger machine next to the one he was working on. "I still haven't seen how these other machines perform since you've worked on them."

Eren looked crestfallen, and Levi felt like a complete dick for dashing his enthusiasm.

* * *

Eren turned out to be quite the brilliant mechanic. All of Levi's machines ran beautifully after being serviced by the man. Levi started to get more used to Eren's presence at the factory, though his attraction to him didn't lessen in the slightest. He approached the problem the same way he did with other dilemmas in his life; he buckled down, applied himself and shut his feelings away in a mental box.

Or at least, that was what Levi _tried_ to do. Unfortunately, he couldn't quite master the last part. Every time he heard Eren speak, he longed to hear him say his name. Every time he smelled that aftershave, he couldn't help but inhale deeply, trying to make it linger in his nostrils for longer.

Whenever Levi had a hitch with a machine he was using and needed Eren to correct it, Levi actually felt _jealous_ of that machine for having Eren's hands on it. There was something intimate and sensual about the way the guy examined and handled the factory equipment. It made Levi wonder if those hands were as skilled in the bedroom as they were with mechanics.

It was getting ridiculous, and Levi couldn't even talk to the guy to find out about his likes and dislikes. He still didn't know how Eren winded up with a surname like Jaeger if he was born and raised in Brazil. The two of them managed at least rudimentary communication well enough through gestures and body language, but they were still practically strangers.

Unbidden, Levi began to think of other things he and Eren could do besides talk. Verbal communication wasn't really necessary for fucking, after all. It helped when it came to letting a partner know what felt good and what didn't, of course, but if both were attentive to each other's reactions, it wasn't that hard to figure it out without a verbal cue.

Levi groaned to himself each time such thoughts came up. He didn't even know if Eren was remotely into guys. He probably had a girlfriend. Maybe even a wife. Levi couldn't imagine someone with his looks staying single for long.

It was useless to harbor the notion that he and Eren might hook up sometime, so Levi kept trying to banish such thoughts and think practically.

* * *

Eren worked fewer days in the week than Levi, due to the nature of his occupation. Levi couldn't decide if that was a blessing or a shame. Sure, his production rate went up when he didn't have that piece of eye candy around to distract him, but Levi's mood suffered when Eren wasn't there. He wasn't consciously aware of it until one of the girls in packing said something to him about it. She asked him if he had a case of "The Mondays" and why he always seemed to get it on Saturdays as well.

Those were the two days of the week Levi worked but Eren had off. It wasn't hard for him to put two and two together. His excuse to Sasha was that he hated Mondays because they were the beginning of his work week, and if he seemed short of patience on Saturdays, it was because he was ready to get the hell out of there and enjoy his day off. She seemed to accept the logic. Everyone hated Saturdays, really. Sometimes production was closed and everyone would get the Saturday off, but otherwise they were forced to come in and do a half-day when they would rather be at a barbecue or something.

It was on one of these Saturdays that Farlan told Levi something during their lunch break that caught his attention. They were sitting under the tree at the picnic table together when Levi mentioned that he needed to remember to leave a request for Eren to look at his double-needle machine when he came in for maintenance on Sunday.

"Oh yeah, speaking of him," Farlan said around the bite of sandwich he was chewing on, "remember when—"

"Don't fucking talk with your mouth full," chided Levi with a grimace. "I can see your food rolling around in your trap."

Farlan dutifully finished chewing and swallowing before continuing. "As I was saying; remember what you said about Eren's last name seeming out of place when I found it out?"

Levi nodded. "What about it?"

Farlan took a drink of his spring water before going on. "Well I found out why. I overheard Gunther talking to a couple of the ladies from the stuffing line about him this morning. I guess Eren's got a following of interested girls now. Anyway, it turns out he's only half Brazilian. He talks to Gunther a lot because he's one of the only people here that speak his language. The subject of his upbringing came up, I guess. Eren's mom is Brazilian. His dad was from the states."

"'Was'?" repeated Levi with quiet interest. "I guess that means his old man's dead or something?"

"That's not what I got out of it," explained Farlan. "His dad's out of the picture but not dead. Him and Eren's mom weren't together for long. Sounds to me like he abandoned them or something."

"Huh. Any idea what he was doing in Brazil to begin with?"

Farlan had another bite of food before answering. "Gunther mentioned something about him being a doctor. I didn't catch all of it, but the guy was working a temporary job in Salvador at some clinic. Might be where he met Eren's mother. Anyway, they weren't married but Eren got his last name when he was born. Since his dad didn't stay around, it makes sense that Eren never learned any English."

"I'll be damned." Levi wondered about the details surrounding those circumstances. Maybe Eren's mother was a sex worker like Levi's own mom used to be. Maybe that was how she got pregnant with him, and naturally, the guy that knocked her up wouldn't stick around to help raise him. It was easy for Levi to pin that scenario down because that was basically his own story of growing up.

It seemed him and Eren might have more in common than Levi thought.

* * *

Weeks passed. How long had it been since Eren started? Three months? Longer? Levi couldn't be sure. He'd picked up a few words of Portuguese in that time, and Eren did the same with English, but they still couldn't have a conversation with each other. It was frustrating, but Levi had learned to work around that. His needle broke on the tacking machine, and he fetched Eren to help him with that since he'd never mastered how to replace it properly on that machine.

As he stood back and watched Eren work his magic on the equipment, Levi got approached by one of the girls from the hard cover production line.

"Ciao, Levi!" greeted Sofia. He turned around to see her approaching him with a wave and a smile, her dark brown hair gathered into a loose bun.

"Ciao," he answered back, relaxing his stance a bit. He liked the playful, vivacious woman and there were plenty of straight guys—including Farlan—that lusted after her.

"I come to invite you," she announced in her Italian-accented, light-hearted voice. She stopped before him, her rather ample bosom heaving a little beneath her tank top as if she'd been in a hurry to get to him. "There is a party tomorrow...ah, no, let me think of the words. A...how you say, barbecue?"

Levi shrugged. "If you're grilling food outdoors, yeah. That's the word for it."

"Ah, wonderful! Yes, a barbecue, then. We are having one at the beach. We'll have food, drinks, swimming, sunshine. You must come!"

"Who is 'we'?"

Sofia made an elegant, encompassing gesture with her arms. "Everybody, darling! We get a three day weekend this time. Did you not know?"

Actually, Levi had forgotten about that. It was labor day weekend, and the factory would be closed until Tuesday. He hadn't even made any plans yet; hadn't even considered it. "So the whole factory is going?"

She shrugged. "Well, not _everybody_. Some have their own plans, but I make sure everyone is invited, sì? Will you come?"

Levi thought about it. He had nothing better to do, so he nodded. "Sure. For a little while, at least."

"Belissimo!" She boldly reached out to give his jaw a light, affectionate squeeze. "You are so precious!"

Levi tolerated the uninvited touch, only because he knew it was Sofia's way and kind of a culture thing with her. He just hoped she wouldn't try to kiss him the way she commonly did with her friends. He subtly took a step back to discourage such action, putting a little space between them without being blatantly defensive.

"So what do I need to bring to this shindig you've got planned?"

"We have the food covered," she explained, "so just your favorite drink, yourself and a swim suit...unless you _want_ to bring a dish. Nobody will complain of too much food, you know?"

Levi smirked subtly. "I guess not. Okay, I'll pick up some hotdogs or something to contribute. What time does it start and which beach?"

Sofia gave him the information, and then she glanced over at Eren; who was just finishing up with replacing the needle in the tacking machine. She leaned closer to Levi and dropped her voice to a whisper.

"Eren is coming too."

Levi suffered mild panic. His first reaction was to paint an indifferent expression on his face, and he nearly asked her why she thought he cared. He then recognized the admiring look in Sofia's eyes and understood that her comment was one of personal excitement rather than incentive for him to show up.

_~Oh. You like him. Of course you like him. Everyone does, except the guys that get sick of you girls fanning yourselves over him and ignoring them completely.~_

Feeling foolish for being paranoid, Levi tried to brush off his misunderstanding. "Thanks for the invitation, Sofia."

"But of course! Oh, I better get back to work before the boss gets mad. Caio, Levi!" She gave him a little wave before hurrying off to return to her work station.

"Yeah. Caio." Levi watched her go for a second, and then he turned back around to check Eren's progress. The mechanic was already finished, and he disposed of the broken needle in the wastepaper basket by the tacking machine before standing up.

"Levi," said Eren with a smile and an inviting gesture toward the machine. "Is ready."

"Thanks, Eren." Levi walked over to the machine, feeling those blazing green eyes on him as he sat down to try sewing on the next tie down strap to the soft cover he'd been working on. He nodded in satisfaction, snipped the thread and rotated the cover for the next strap. "Good."

"Good?" Eren smiled again. "Okay."

Levi bit the inside of his cheek, keeping his eyes on his project as Eren bent over in front of him to pick up the tools he'd used to do his task. He couldn't have been displaying his ass on purpose, but it was right there just three feet away from Levi's face and the sewer had to fight off an impulsive to give it a smack.

"Nice, Jaeger," Levi heard himself say.

Eren straightened up, slipped his tools into his cargo pants pockets and gave Levi a curious look.

"Ah, nice job," revised Levi, ducking his head and pretending deep concentration on what he was doing. He was sure he must be blushing, and he didn't want Eren to notice it.

Eren nodded, having come to understand simple compliments in English. "Obrigado."

* * *

Levi stopped at the grocery store before driving to the alotted beach for the barbecue. He picked up a couple packs of hot dogs and buns, a boiled shrimp platter, a party pack variety of alcoholic seltzer and some sun block for himself. Most of his coworkers could be in the sun without getting fried from it, but Levi was too fair skinned to go without protection all day.

He made it to the pavalion his coworkers had rented for the day, and he was greeted with waves and smiles. Farlan was over by the grill talking to Philippe while the other sewer tended some corn on the cob wrapped in foil.

Levi found a place in the shade for his cooler, got out the food items he'd brought to contribue and located a place on a picnic table to place them. He cast a covert look around, trying to spot Eren in the group of familiar faces. He didn't see him anywhere, and he swallowed disappointment. It was still early. Maybe he was just running late.

"Hey Levi."

Levi turned around with his fingertips hooking into the pull tab of one of his beverages. He nodded at Gunther, who was in his swimming trunks with a towel around his shoulders. His hair had lost that weird cupi doll style he tended to wear it in, Levi noted. It was damp with salt water and mussed.

"Hey. You almost look like a normal guy right now. I hardly recognize you."

"You're a riot," grunted the bigger man. "Oooh, shrimp! Hell yes. You're the boss, Levi."

Levi watched with quiet amusement as Gunther eagerly reached for a prawn before Levi could even fully remove the plastic lid from the platter. The man dipped it lightly in the cocktail sauce before popping it into his mouth to the tail and tugging the meat out with his teeth to enjoy it.

"Seafood fan, eh?" observed Levi.

Gunther nodded, finished the shrimp and snatched up another. "Hell yeah. Can't get enough of it. My wife thinks I'm half shark."

"Then I suppose I should have brought more than one platter."

Gunther shook his head with a brief frown, finished his second shrimp and gave Levi a pat on the shoulder. "Nah, we've got plenty of food. Matter of fact, everyone's probably going to go home with a plate or more of leftovers. Nearly everyone brought food to contribute and those that didn't brought alcohol...so we're in good shape. They're gonna make fish tacos soon, and we've got plenty of burgers, hot dogs, chicken and veggies to grill also."

"Good. That'll feed me for a couple of days, then." Levi surveyed the beach, seeing a couple of the ladies from the hardcover line punting a beach ball back and forth near the shore. "So who all do we have here today that I haven't seen yet?"

Gunther looked around before answering. "Bella's off in the showers. I guess she got sand in her bathing suit and she wasn't too pleased."

Levi nodded, familiar with Gunther's wife's name. "Who else? Did you bring your kids?"

"No, they're at their grandparents' house this weekend," explained Gunther. "This is our adult time. Let's see...Sofia's out swimming in the water with some of her gal pals. Eren's out in the water too."

"Frolicking with the girls, right?" guessed Levi. Oh well. It looked like Sofia was going to catch his eye if he wasn't already taken. Levi had a hard time reading whether Eren was straight or not, but if he was, he couldn't blame him for going for her.

"No, he's frolicking with a surf board," corrected Gunther.

Levi raised a brow.

"I know, right?" Gunther smirked. "The guy's a surfer. I had no idea until he showed up with his borad and went to town on those waves. He's good, too. That guy's a daredevil."

"What do you mean?" pressed Levi, interested in spite of himself.

"I mean he's got some kahunas," obliged Gunther. He searched around until he found a can of half-drank beer sitting on the table, and he picked it up to have a swallow of it. "He showed me some pictures on his phone of him riding some of the waves in his home country. Not piddly little tame waves like what's out there on the water right now, but massive ones off the coast of Brazil. Turns out he used to do it competitively before moving here."

Levi examined the information in his head. "How do you know it's him in the pictures he showed you? I imagine it would be hard to get a close up of his face when he's out in the water, right?"

"Yeah, but he showed me one of them with him holding a trophy. His mom's next to him. It's not photoshopped, I can tell. The ones he showed me of him out there surfing were ameteur snapshots. He said his mother took them from the shore."

Levi gazed out at the water, trying to locate Eren. He saw three people out there surfing, but it was too far away to tell which of them—if any—was Eren. "Tch. A surfer mechanic from Brazil. What, is he _trying_ to be as exotic as possible? So I guess he had to bring his surf board to show off for the girls."

Gunther gave him a look that Levi couldn't really identify. "He might be trying to make an impression with someone, I'll give you that. Hey, I've gotta go help out the wife for a sec. Glad you came, Levi."

Wondering what he'd meant by the former part of his commentary, Levi frowned after Gunther. He'd just gotten semi confirmation that Eren was out to catch someone's interest, and he felt like Gunther knew something he wasn't sharing with him. Levi wouldn't push him for more information. He didn't want rumors to start. Gunther was probably the only person Eren really talked to from work, and Levi didn't need him telling the man he had eyes for him. Eren might freak out over that and quit.

Levi picked up a paper plate and began selecting appetizers to snack on. When he looked out at the water again, Levi went still with a veggie kabob clutched absently in his hand. It took a couple of seconds to register to him that he was looking at Eren Jaeger coming out of the water with a surf board tucked under his arm, because this would be the first time Levi had ever seen him with his hair down.

The appetizers laid out weren't nearly as tasty looking as the bronzed treat making his way to the shore. Eren's hair hung loose, wet and slicked back. It fell to just beneath his shoulders, which were sparkling with sea water. It wasn't like Levi had never seen a hot male body in a bathing suit before, but he wasn't prepared for the sight of Eren Jaeger in red bikini briefs. He'd pictured him in a wetsuit or something after being told he was a surfer, and most of the guys in this location tended to wear baggy trunks, board shorts or at least a more modest classic cut style. While Eren's choice of swimwear wasn't a g-string, it certainly showed off more than what Levi was used to seeing around these parts.

_"Fuck."_

Part of Levi's kabob slid off the stick to fall on the table. He didn't notice. His eyes were glued to the smooth play of muscles in Eren's torso, thighs and hips as the mechanic made his way out of the water. The studs in Eren's earlobes winked in the sunlight. He had a pair of swimming goggles secured around his neck, as well as a pair of shades that he fit over his eyes with his free hand once he was on the beach.

Gunther jogged down the beach to speak with Eren while several of their female coworkers hooted and clapped enthusiastically, evidently approving of Eren's display of surfing skills. More than one of those ladies, Levi was sure, weren't just hooting over the surfing. It took going to a male strip club to see that much masculine flesh freely displayed around there.

Pornographic thoughts slammed into Levi's head, and he turned his back to the beach, drank deeply enough from his beverage to almost choke himself and almost poked his own eye out with his kabob in the process.

* * *

After seeing that display on the beach, Levi needed a little time alone to compose himself. Just when he thought Eren couldn't get any hotter, the asshole proved him wrong. Levi hid away in one of the little beach shacks designated for males. He enclosed himself in the dressing room, took several deep breaths and concentrated on things he found repulsive so as to calm himself down. Trash, dirty fingernails, dust and grime usually did the trick.

After deliberately punishing his brain with these mental images for a while, Levi felt safe enough to change into his bathing suit and go for a swim. Perhaps a dip would help clear his head. God help him if he ran into Eren before he could do so. He was reaching his limits here.

Levi stepped out of the changing booth once he was in his trunks, tucking his little backpack under one arm. He froze upon seeing the very object of his fantasies standing there by the sink in the process of pulling on a pair of trunk shorts. Levi pulled up short, staring. Eren's hair was partly dried now, tumbling in rich, ocean scented tangles to his shoulders. He was busy tucking himself into his shorts.

Levi's eyes widened the slightest bit, his mouth falling open. The bastard was going commando.

_~Christ, buddy. Do you have to fucking advertise it? Or is modesty just not a thing in Brazil?~_

Levi swallowed, and evidently the sound came out as a loud gulp because Eren looked up from what he was doing. His lips parted with mild surprise, and his goods were still partly exposed to view.

"Levi," Eren said softly. Then he gave a semi-sheepish smile, and his emerald gaze dropped with concentration as he tried to formulate whatever it was he wanted to say.

"Stall," Eren said, slowly and carefully, "was oc...occupied?"

Realizing that his unexpected companion was questioning his own word usage, Levi nodded.

"Yeah." His voice sounded thin and raspy to his ears. "Occupied. That's right. You could have just waited or something."

Levi's gaze dropped below Eren's waistline, and he violently forced his eyes to the side to stop himself from ogling the Brazilian like a juicy steak on a meat platter. Eren was a nice size from what he'd glimpsed, and Levi was faintly relieved to discover the man wasn't bald in the pants. Maybe the bikini wax thing was more of a woman's trend, or maybe Brazilians didn't really practice it at all and Americans just used the term "Brazilian wax job" to make it sound more exotic to consumers.

He realized Eren was staring at him silently, and Levi forced himself to look up at the man. Eren couldn't possibly have understood Levi's admonishment in full, but he did look embarrassed. He was even blushing a little, or maybe that was just a touch of sunburn manifesting on his cheeks.

"It's okay," Levi said, unable to take his eyes off Eren's. Then the mechanic's stare drifted, meandering over Levi's body and reminding him that he too was rather displayed. Levi refused to believe that was admiration he was seeing in those riveting eyes. They'd gone from green to a golden shade again, and then they traversed Levi's body back up to his face, settling on the smaller man's eyes again and holding them.

_~You fucking snack...stop looking at me that way.~_

There was no way to cool the warmth in his face this time, no way to conceal it if Levi was blushing as much as he felt like he was. Suddenly he felt like _he_ was in the wrong for daring to step out of the changing stall without checking to see if anyone was there. It was ridiculous. There was a reason why the privacy stall was in there, and it wasn't so people could hide in wait to molest unsuspecting people trying to change.

"I'll get out of your way," Levi mumbled, again forgetting that Eren could only understand a short list of words in English, "give you the chance to finish changing and...yeah, I'll go."

Eren more or less finished tucking himself in, but he stopped Levi before the smaller man could pull the changing shack door open. Levi's survival instincts kicked in. He was suddenly on the defensive as Eren crowded him at the door, putting one hand flat against the door on either side of Levi's head.

"What the fuck—"

"Levi."

Eren's eyes bored into Levi's, wolf-like and hot. His expression contradicted the intensity of his stare though. Eren's tanned features were troubled. Levi could read frustration and urgency in it, and then Eren spoke his name again more softly. "Levi."

There was an undeniable caress in Eren's tone when he said it. Levi was sure he wasn't just imagining it this time. His pulse picked up in tempo. He was breathless. "What?" he asked, the question escaping him in a choked, needy gasp. "What the fuck are you trying to do to me, Jaeger?"

Eren said something in his own language that sounded to Levi like a song in the forest. He didn't count himself as a poetic person, but damned if it didn't turn him on even if he couldn't understand a word of it. Eren then took his right hand off of the door it was planted against, and he caressed Levi's face with his fingertips. He turned his hand over and did it again with the back of his knuckles.

"I dream," Eren struggled, seeming to try hard to say the right words, "of...you."

Levi's heart was officially impaled by that halting sentence, by that stare that looked as though it was silently begging him to comprehend. He searched Eren's gaze, fearing he'd either misheard or Eren had mistranslated what he meant to say.

Levi was horrible with words in any language, but he was pretty good at action, he thought. He swiped his tongue over his lips, feeling like they were parched, and he put his hands on Eren's chest. "If that means the same thing in your language as it does in mine, then we're good as gold."

Those wide eyes met Levi's again, and they practically blazed golden. "Levi," Eren said again, this time in a husked whisper.

Then Levi's vision was blocked out by Eren's face as the mechanic closed in on him. Eren's mouth touched his almost shyly at first. Hardly believing what was happening, Levi held perfectly still. His thoughts jumbled in confusion, and then one thought loomed sharply in his head.

_~I'd better not wake up in a second to find this is all just a wet fucking dream.~_

That would be too brutal and unfair for words.

Eren cupped Levi's jaw with one hand, urging his mouth open. His tongue sought entry to the smaller man's mouth, and Levi obliged him dumbly; still terrified that he was about to wake up to cruel reality. The tactile sensation of Eren's tongue in his mouth shook Levi, and a ridiculous thought popped into his head.

_~I've got a foreign tongue in my mouth.~_

Levi snorted suddenly, caught up in mild hysteria. Eren started to pull away—probably mistaking his reaction for criticism against his method of kissing. Levi didn't let him. He'd be damned if he was going to let his own stupid impulses ruin this, dream or not. Levi cupped the back of Eren's head, curving his fingers to grab a handful of his damp chestnut hair. He reciprocated the kiss before Eren's tongue could withdraw, flicking his own against it and making a needy sound in his throat.

Eren also emitted a noise; a lusty vibrato that hummed against the smaller male's lips. He pressed full-length against him, skin on skin. Eren's was still moist from the ocean and the misty drops rapidly warmed and evaporated as both men's bodies heated up. His kiss became more aggressive, more intense.

Levi grinded against the lean, strong thigh suddenly wedged between his legs. He was already obnoxiously hard. Felt like he was throbbing all over. Eren's scent right now was a blend of the ocean and earthy notes, wild and thrilling. He broke away from the kiss abruptly, but before Levi could protest, Eren started mouthing at his throat. The faint roughness of new stubble on the Brazilian's jaw chafed and tickled at once. Another sound issued from Eren's mouth, this time a word.

"Levi."

"Say it again," Levi practically begged. He couldn't get enough of hearing his name on those lips.

Eren didn't comply except to make a curious sound. That was okay. The way they were communicating right now was better than mere words. Levi could feel the other man's crotch stiffening against his pelvis, faint pulses like heartbeats as Eren got harder and harder.

They were sinking to the floor together, still pressed up against the door. Thankfully, that door opened inward so their bodies combined provided a barrier against unexpected entry. Levi found himself sitting with his legs spread and his back up against the door, and Eren squatted between his thighs, cupped his ass and lifted him. Levi was in his lap now, and their mouths crushed together again.

When the kiss broke again, Levi uttered a demand that shocked even himself.

"Fuck me, you whore."

Eren pulled back to stare at him with surprise, and Levi flushed. He didn't know which part of his comment Eren had understood, and he stammered an explanation. "I...I say some stupid shit when I'm excited. Some guys like dirty talk and I guess I'm just in the habit of—"

"Here?" whispered Eren, that burning gaze of his hungry and intense on Levi. "You want the sex?"

Levi was partly mortified but mostly relieved. It seemed Eren hadn't picked up on the fact that Levi had just called him a whore, but he understood what the word "fuck" meant.

"Yeah," said Levi, surprising himself. "I want the sex."

Eren kept staring at him, and it seemed to Levi that he was struggling with himself. A few moments passed, and then Eren sighed and shook his head. His bright gaze lowered.

"No."

The rejection was unexpected. "No? Why the hell not? _You_ kissed _me_ , remember? You started this. Now you're gonna get cold feet in the middle of making out?"

Eren couldn't possibly understand more than a couple of words of that. Levi knew it, and still it made him angry when the other man just gave him a look of animal-like confusion. The gold in Eren's eyes darkened to green, and he sighed again. He reached out with an expression of regret, and he touched Levi's face gently. Eren licked his lips, and visibly struggled with words.

"This...no good."

Levi's mouth fell open, and his eyes narrowed on Eren, sharpening to flint. "We've barely fucking gotten started, and you're telling me I'm not good? Seconds ago you were ready to fuck me through the wall and now I'm not good enough?"

Frustration fairly dripped from Eren. Levi could see it in his tension and his expression, but it seemed to be turned inward rather than directed at Levi. Eren stood up, combed his hair back from his eyes and then offered a hand to Levi.

"Come," he pleaded.

Levi growled softly, and he reached up to take the extended hand. "I was about to, you shit."

* * *

Eren led Levi out of the changing hut, de-coupling from him once they were out in the open. He pleaded again for Levi to come with him. The hurt and frustration of rejection was sharp, but so was Levi's curiosity. Obviously Eren wanted to show him something, so maybe the encounter Levi was hoping for was still possible.

To his confusion, Eren led him back to the pavilion. He kept encouraging Levi to come with him, and they eventually ended up next to Gunther. The man was in the process of making himself a fish taco, and he paused to regard Eren when the mechanic came up to him and started to speak in Portuguese.

Levi stood back and watched with a frown as Gunther listened to whatever Eren was saying. Gunther's eyes flicked to him when Eren said Levi's name and made a quick gesture at him, and Levi fought the urge to shift uncomfortably.

"Uh, okay," Gunther said at last when Eren finished speaking, and Eren looked back at Levi with that plaintive expression on his handsome face. Gunther put his half-made taco down on his plate, scratched the back of his head and stepped closer to Levi.

"Eren wants me to tell you: _'some things should be special'_." Gunther shrugged. "Whatever that means."

Levi looked at Eren again, and the mechanic nodded. His eyes begged Levi for understanding.

"I see."

The fog of embarrassment and disappointment lifted. Eren hadn't been rejecting him, exactly. He'd just been rejecting the moment. Or rather, the time and place. Levi studied him carefully, trying to guess what his game was. There was nothing but longing and a sort of desperation in those green eyes.

_~Is this a game, or are you just the romantic sort? What are you trying to do, Jaeger? Take me out on a date? How the hell do we do that if we have to drag Gunther along with us like a chaperone because we need him to translate?~_

"I'm just going to mind my own business," Gunther decided when the two other men kept staring at each other. "Carry on, dudes."

Levi wasn't even embarrassed. Not now, when that face was expressing so much desire and hope. It seemed Eren might soon burn a hole through him with that stare. In most cases, Levi would have told someone to cool it no matter how much he wanted them back. It didn't really matter to him that others might notice that blatantly needful stare.

Gunther tactfully finished piling his choice of toppings into his taco shell, and he went over to sit and eat with his wife and some of the factory workers. Awkward moments stretched between Levi and Eren, until Levi decided he needed to break the silence.

"I think I understand," he said. He tried to make it clearer, searching his memory for some of the Portuguese words he'd learned. "Sim. Compreendo."

Eren's countenance relaxed into a smile. He nodded. "Sim. Yes."

The mechanic looked around furtively, and then he bent over to speak intimately into Levi's right ear. "Tomorrow?"

He said it with such a strong accent that it took a moment for Levi to get it. His heart skipped a beat. Unless Eren got the word wrong, it seemed to him that he was asking if they could meet up tomorrow...possibly under more private and intimate circumstances.

"Okay," Levi said. "Tomorrow. My place."

It was frustrating to try and convey, so Levi bent over to open up his forgotten beach bag filled with his clothes, keys and belongings, and he fished out his cell phone. He showed it to Eren, and then he pulled up the mechanic's number on his contact list. He'd never actually used it before because...well...what the hell would they talk about? Still, he made it a habit to exchange numbers with all of the coworkers he worked with most directly.

Levi showed Eren again while he sent the text to him giving his street address. He felt more than saw Eren nod, and he looked up at him. "What time?"

Eren's face scrunched just a little, and then he shrugged and grinned shyly.

"How about five?" Levi suggested.

Levi nodded. "Five," he repeated. "I bring...food?"

"No need," assured Levi. There would be plenty of leftovers from today to satisfy their need for nutritional sustenance. Levi had a hunger for a different kind of snack. He noticed a couple of people looking there way and Farlan was one of them. He hadn't even said hello to his friend yet. He needed to rectify that and think with his head instead of his dick.

"Excuse me," Levi said, normalizing his tone and hoping Eren understood this wasn't a dismissal, but a tactical effort to avoid attracting too much attention to their behavior around each other.

Eren did. He nodded, and he looked over at his surfboard leaning up against one of the support posts of the pavilion. While Levi went to speak with Farlan, Eren collected his gear to take it back to his truck.

* * *

Over all, the barbecue went well. Everyone had a nice time and just as Gunther predicted, there was plenty to take home for all. Levi spent a restless night alone in his bed, finally jerking off to thoughts of Eren so that he could expend some of his tension and get some rest. He woke up too early, vacuumed and dusted and then took a nap after lunch. He woke up again at three, had a shower and picked out an outfit that he thought might please Eren.

He fussed over his appearance like a teenager, shaving closely, switching shirts and grooming his hair several times. He avoided overdoing it on the aftershave and avoided cologne entirely. He hardly ever wore it, and Levi didn't want to alter the scent that Eren evidently found appealing by changing anything there.

"All right," he said at last, staring at himself in the bathroom mirror.

He considered his appearance. Decided his throat should be more visible. He undid the top two buttons of the dark green shirt he was wearing. Levi had been told by previous lovers that he had a nice neck, but maybe that was just because he hid it so often beneath high-neck shirts and sweaters. They also expressed universal appreciation for his chest and especially his abs. If Eren's surveillance of him was any indication, he shared that opinion. Levi didn't want to overdo it though.

"What am I doing?" muttered Levi to himself. He hadn't fussed over his appearance like this for so long, and if the night went as he hoped he was just going to end up mussed up and naked anyhow.

He exited the bathroom and decided to occupy himself with one more critical sweep of his apartment. It wasn't like there was a lot of cleanup to do. Rent was so high in the area that the average person couldn't afford more than an efficiency or studio for under a thousand a month, but Levi prided himself on making his tiny living space tidy and pleasant to be in.

He paced the floors when he ran out of things to do, counting down the minutes.

* * *

Levi was just starting to feel certain that he'd been set up when there was a knock at his door. He jumped up from the couch, meant to turn off the television and accidentally hit the volume button instead. He quickly rectified his mistake, and he went to the door.

His disappointment was biting. He could see through the peephole that it wasn't Eren after all, but some UPS delivery guy. Growling softly, Levi unlocked the door and pulled it open. Of all the times for one of them to finally bring a package to his door instead of just leaving it in the driveway or at the foot of the stairs, this was the worst for it.

"Mr. Ackerman?" asked the delivery driver.

"Yeah." Levi accepted the package. He'd forgotten that he'd ordered the silent alarm clock. "Thanks."

"If you'll just digitally sign?"

Levi nodded, and he wrote his name awkwardly with the stylus pen. His signatures always looked fucking awful when he signed this way, but he supposed it didn't matter. "Here you go. Appreciate it."

"Have a good day."

The driver tucked his digital pad into the bag strapped to his side, and he turned to walk down the stairs. Levi was just about to close the door when he noticed a beaten up gray truck pulling up to the curb on the street, behind the UPS truck. The engine cut off and Eren got out. He was wearing a black muscle shirt, gray slacks and a pair of black dress shoes. His hair was gathered in a ponytail, and he locked his vehicle before pausing to examine the duplex Levi lived in.

He looked gorgeous as usual.

"Up here, Eren," called Levi when the mechanic took an uncertain step towards the porch on the ground floor.

Spotting the steps leading up to the garage apartment, Eren smiled and stepped aside for the UPS driver. Once the other man was out of the way, Eren went up the stairs to meet Levi at his door.

"Boa noite," greeted Eren. He carried a bottle of white wine in his left hand, which he presented to Levi. "For you."

"Eh, thanks." Levi accepted the offering, securing his package under his left arm so he could take the bottle with his right hand. "You didn't need to do that."

Eren shrugged, took a look over his shoulder to be sure the UPS truck was driving off and then surprised Levi with a quick kiss on the lips.

"How the hell are you both shy and bold at the same time?" wondered Levi. He pushed the door open with his foot. "After you."

Eren slid past him, and he held the door obligingly for Levi to come in after him. Levi put the package on the little coffee table in front of his couch, and then he took the bottle of wine to the kitchenette to put it in the fridge.

"Excuse the—" Levi turned around to address Eren, and he found him face-to-face with him. "Bed," he finished, wondering how the man had snuck up so close without him realizing it.

Eren looked at the indicated twin-sized bed up against the back wall, neatly made with plain gray bamboo sheets and stacked with pillows. He walked over to it, said something in a questioning tone and then bent over to run his palm over the sheets.

"I know," Levi said, unable to help but to admire him. "I've got expensive taste in bedding for a guy struggling to afford a hole in the wall. I don't sleep well though. Cool, smooth sheets help."

Levi knew he was babbling. He didn't admonish Eren for messing with his bed as he might have done with someone else. There was something endearing about it. Then Eren _sat down_ on the bed, bounced a little and looked up at Levi.

"Uh..." said Levi dumbly. "What are you doing?"

"You say...get on bed," Eren replied haltingly. He flushed as if realizing he'd misunderstood, and he stood up. He said something in his mother tongue that sounded to Levi like a soft curse, and he looked at him with distress. "Sorry. I...did wrong."

Levi generally didn't fit in with the stereotype of gay men being promiscuous, but damned if he didn't want to just go for it, just this once. He stopped before Eren and looked up at him, putting his hands on the taller male's waist.

"No you didn't. It's okay. I...hold on." Levi fished his phone out of his back pocket, opened up an app he'd researched and downloaded and spoke into the phone. "Hope this is at least half accurate," he murmured before showing Eren the translation from English to Portuguese the application had generated.

Eren looked at it, seemed faintly puzzled and then relieved. He nodded at Levi to show he understood.

"Okay, so that worked for the most part," sighed Levi. Now they didn't necessarily need someone else to translate for them; this application would allow them to converse at least on a rudimentary level. He switched the input to Portuguese and the output to English, and he offered the phone to Eren.

"Go ahead," encouraged Levi when Eren hesitated. "You talk now."

Eren took his advice, speaking in a low voice into the phone. He finished with a nod and touched the translate option he'd seen Levi use. Levi checked out the result, curious to see what Eren's thoughts were instead of always guessing. Just as he'd predicted, the translation wasn't perfect and it made his grammar alarms go off, but it was better than having only five words in total to talk to Eren with.

_"I like you much and want to do more kissing too. Me sorry my talk isn't so good."_

"Heh. Your 'talk' isn't any worse than my attempts to speak in your language," Levi observed. He could only imagine how his sentence had come out looking to Eren. "This'll do until we get better at speaking each other's languages."

Eren read the translation Levi supplied, and he nodded in agreement. He used the translator next, asking Levi if he would text him a link so he could download it on his phone too.

"Sure," agreed Levi. He quickly did as Eren asked, and then he put his phone away. He gestured at the bed, feeling nervous again. "Want to sit? Or we could go to the couch." He then gestured at the couch to show Eren he was giving him a choice in how to set the pace.

Eren sat down on the bed, took Levi's hands and urged him to sit down beside him. Pleased that it was so easy, Levi joined him. For a moment they stared into each other's eyes, and just when Levi was about to try and come up with something to say or offer a snack, Eren cupped his face in his hands and kissed him.

Just like that, they were back where they'd left off in the beach shack. The only difference was that this time Eren didn't start out so shyly. His kiss was confident, erotic and passionate. His tongue did things in Levi's mouth that made his head reel, and Levi responded with just as much enthusiasm.

They were doing things backwards, Levi realized. Having sex before getting to know one another. He'd always resisted doing things that way because he thought it was reckless and crass, but this was a different situation. Maybe if they clicked right in the bed, he and Eren could work on establishing a relationship. Right now, his priority was to get into Eren's pants and worry about the rest later.

Eren tugged Levi's shirt out of his pants and burrowed his hands beneath it. Warm and calloused, they stroked Levi's chest and chafed his nipples. Levi whimpered and gasped when Eren broke the kiss, urged him onto his back and hunched over him. The mechanic started bunching Levi's shirt up by the hem slowly, and his mouth kissed the flesh as he slowly exposed it.

Levi watched breathlessly as Eren tongued his navel suggestively, glanced at him with hot golden eyes and then started kissing each tight knot of muscle on Levi's stomach. Eren spoke between kisses, and Levi had to assume it was a compliment based on the man's actions. He worked Eren's hair free of the tie holding it in its ponytail, aching to run his fingers through it. Long hair wasn't usually his thing, but on Eren it was hot.

Eren started unbuttoning Levi's shirt from the bottom up while the smaller man combed his fingers through his hair. He kissed and tongued every inch of Levi's torso in the process, and once he had his shirt fully opened, Eren teased Levi's nipples.

Back arching, toes curling in his shoes, Levi expelled a vulgarity and egged Eren on. Eren sucked on his neck and urged him into another position, so that Levi was lying full length on the bed and Eren was halfway on top of him. The bed was too narrow for them to lie side by side, but that was okay in this instance.

The two men explored one another, getting familiar with the touch and taste of each other. Levi got Eren's shirt off, tossing it carelessly across the room. His hands scrambled over the Brazilian's body feverishly, squeezing and caressing and teasing. He played with Eren's copper colored nipples for a bit, and then Levi kissed them while working Eren's pants open to feel him up.

"You're big," gasped Levi in approval, gripping the other man experimentally. Not _too_ big, but above average in length and girth enough to cause some envy in locker rooms. That was perfect for Levi's intentions.

He paused and pressed his free hand against Eren's chest to urge him to stop for a minute. Eren did, and his hair fell forward as he stared down at Levi with lusty eyes. He was breathing heavily and he looked so damned beautiful that it took Levi a second to remember why he was putting on the brakes for a minute.

"Protection," gasped Levi. He wished he'd gotten it out _before_ they started making out, but he honestly hadn't been sure what would happen when Eren got there. Leaving condoms and lube out in a visible place by the bed would have been too blatant.

"Condom," Levi said when Eren looked uncertain. "Rubber. For this." He gave Eren's length a gentle squeeze for emphasis.

Comprehension lit up Eren's face. "Ah! Sim, I have here..."

Eren levered up a bit to dig in his back pants pocket. He pulled out a string of Trojan condoms and showed them to Levi.

"Ribbed. Nice." Levi smirked, pleased that Eren was proactive with safe sex, even if his modesty was different from what Levi was used to. He took the condoms from Eren and he set them aside for the moment. "We need lube too. I have that covered, though."

Eren frowned in concentration, and then nodded even though he clearly didn't understand. Levi urged him off of him so that he could get up and retrieve the lubricant from the dresser drawer he kept it in. He returned to the bed, showing it to Eren as an explanation.

"Ahh," Eren said again upon examining the tube. "I eh...forget."

"It's okay," Levi assured him. "If I didn't have any, I'd have just run to the store for some. This is fucking happening, okay?"

Eren gave a helpless shrug.

"Come here," demanded Levi, giving up on conversation.

He grabbed the back of Eren's hair and kissed him. That, Eren understood. They were pawing at each other again, and for a while Levi ended up on top. He stroked Eren's length until the mechanic hissed and spoke a shaken warning in Portuguese. Levi stopped, and then he got rolled onto his back and pinned to the bed by the bigger male.

Now Eren's kisses were almost savage. His teeth scraped against Levi's and he was tongue-fucking his mouth aggressively. Levi responded in kind, digging his nails into Eren's shoulders and grinding against his thigh. They got their pants and socks off, and things cooled for a little while as they explored each other anew with no barriers between them.

Levi was pretty sure that Eren called him beautiful during the course of their explorations, but he wasn't positive about that. The man's actions conveyed his admiration just fine. They couldn't keep their hands off each other, and eventually Eren lifted up, stared down at Levi and delivered a promise to him.

"Now I fuck you like whore."

Levi blinked, shocked out of his lusty daze. He then remembered what he'd blurted out to Eren the day before when they started hooking up in the beach shack.

"That isn't exactly what I...oh, never mind. It works for me."

* * *

What a night it turned out to be. When Eren told him he was going to "fuck him like a whore", Levi instinctively braced himself for bad sex. As it turned out, Eren was just trying to dirty talk him the way Levi had the day before at the beach. He most certainly did not do him like he was a whore, unless things were backwards in Brazil and the customers paid to pleasure the prostitutes instead of the other way around.

Eren blew him first, and though Levi warned him, Eren kept going until he came down his throat. He then flipped Levi over while the smaller man was still recovering, and he startled the hell out of him by tugging Levi's hips up to lift his ass and then proceeding to tongue him cross-eyed.

Nobody had ever done that to him before, and Levi panicked at first. Eren calmed him with some soft words he couldn't understand, followed by some gentle touches. "Trust me" was what Levi got out of it, and so he chose to, and it was amazing. He nearly screamed by the time Eren finished tonguing his hole, and he was on the very urge of a second climax.

Instead of finishing him off, Eren stroked his hair and encouraged him to rest. Eren rinsed his mouth out in the kitchenette sink before continuing, and then he put on a condom and used the lube to work Levi open more.

Then the fucking started, and Levi did eventually scream. He tried to hold back, but it ripped from him in his moments of final release like some caged animal finally breaking free. Eren did everything right; almost _too_ right. He was very good at reading Levi's reactions, extremely attentive and determined to please him.

First they did it with Levi lying on his side with one leg hiked up and Eren straddling the other leg. Then, just as Levi was about to come, Eren changed positions and took him missionary style. Finally the mechanic got on his back, urged Levi to straddle him and let him ride him backwards. Levi came seconds after Eren did. He waited for a few minutes to catch his breath, and then he eased off of Eren and turned around to straddle him the other way.

That was when Levi saw the way Eren looked post-orgasm for the first time. The Himalayan salt lamp on the nearby dresser cast Eren's features in a warm glow. It struck Levi with a pain he couldn't understand. Levi reached down to smooth away a few rich brown locks that were stuck to Eren's sweating forehead, and then his fingers traced the mechanic's facial features. Eren turned his head a little to kiss Levi's fingers, and then he stared up at the smaller man and sucked on the tips of them, one by one.

It was confirmed; Eren was beyond a doubt the sexiest motherfucker Levi had ever met in his life.

* * *

Eren stayed the night with him, seeing as they both had the next day off. Levi heated leftovers from the barbecue for their dinner, and they showered together after eating. Eren had to brush his teeth with his finger, but he didn't seem to mind. Levi did have a folding bed inside the couch that he could have pulled out, but he was too worn out to bother and he ended up sleeping naked on top of Eren in his bed.

In the morning they had sex again, only this time they switched roles. Levi wasn't expecting it. Eren hadn't given him the impression that he was into bottoming, but after a good-morning kiss turned into something more, Eren guided Levi's fingers between his ass cheeks, urging him to play there.

Levi wasn't terribly experienced at topping, but for someone as hot as Eren, he was more than willing to get some more practice in. It was just as hot and exciting as the night before. Eren didn't seem quite as confident bottoming as he had topping, but since he was so determined to do it, Levi did his best to be careful, encourage him and take his time. They spooned when they did it, and Levi jerked Eren off while he fucked him. Eren was very vocal, but the only word Levi could understand was his name. That happened to be the only word that really mattered to him, and it spurred him on.

Afterwards they held each other, and Levi didn't mind the closeness at all. Eren was very affectionate. Rubbing his back, tracing his ear until Levi squirmed from the tickle of it. Eventually they cleaned up, got dressed and then went to the pancake house for some breakfast. Eren had to go after that, but he asked Levi through text translation and gestures if they could spend time together again.

Levi said yes.

* * *

Levi was convinced that his experience with Eren would end up as just a one night stand. With those looks, that body, that piercing stare and natural sensuality, Levi was sure that Eren was going to turn out to be a player.

He was dead wrong. Eren's romanticism wasn't just an act. He started leaving little folded pieces of paper at Levi's main workstation in the factory each morning. Levi was annoyed the first time, thinking someone just left some trash on his production table. When he opened up the folded paper and looked at it, he found a drawing of a heart with a smiley face on it. Levi almost balled it up and threw it away, until he glanced up and saw Eren watching him from the entryway to his work area. The Brazilian winked and gave Levi a little smile, and he knew it was from him.

Levi got little love notes like that from Eren every morning. Sometimes it was an emoji, sometimes a crude word in English. One day he received no "note" and he figured Eren was bored with him, but then he received a text with several heart, wink and kissy-face emojis from Eren. That text was followed by another one, obviously translated by a language application.

_"Sorry for not leaving a picture today. I'm shouting at some more paper when I have a cake."_

A sound erupted from Levi like a warning tremor before an earthquake. He didn't realize it came from him until Farlan—seated across from him—took notice and stopped what he was doing to stare at him with interest.

"You okay bro?"

Levi composed himself. He'd just fucking _laughed_. Not just the quiet little huff he rarely did when something amused him to the point of making noise. It had been loud, unpracticed and choked, but it was definitely a laugh.

"Yeah." Levi coughed and slapped his chest. "I inhaled some factory dust, that's all."

"Uh-huh." Farlan peered at him more intently. "Levi, you're smiling."

"Bullshit," defended Levi. "It's a grimace. This fucking dust in the air gets to me."

"That's a smile. You're still doing it. I've _never_ seen you do that before."

Levi's mouth trembled slightly as he forced it back into remission. He'd never had such a hard time controlling it before. "It just looks like a smile because I almost hacked myself into gagging. You're just seeing what you want to see."

"Yeah...right. Levi, I've been your friend for five years now. You _got_ me this job and—"

"So what's that got to do with anything?"

"And I've never seen you smile," finished Farlan evenly. "Not like that. I know the difference."

Levi glared at him across the table. Farlan stubbornly held his gaze, and Levi sighed. Rather than discuss it out in the open where other people could hear—even if most of them didn't know enough English to get it all—Levi took out his phone and sent Farlan a text. Farlan reacted when his phone went off, looked at it and then ogled Levi. He tore his glasses off his face.

"No kidding?"

Levi compressed his lips and sent another text.

_"No I'm not kidding. Hooked up with Eren last weekend after the BBQ. Don't make a scene. Still don't know where it's going myself ok?"_

Farlan seemed to debate with himself. Levi could see the excitement going through him, but true to his nature, Farlan loyally contained himself and did as Levi asked.

"Well, that explains the smile," Farlan said aloud, and then he grinned. "I had a feeling, though."

"You did not."

"Yes I did."

"Bullshit."

"We've got work to do, Levi. Quotas to meet, remember?"

Levi growled a little, but he couldn't dispute that fact. He situated the first cover cap to begin sewing it, snatched up the elastic bungee he was to sew into it and got started.

* * *

They started going on dates. Simple ones, since both Levi and Eren had limited funds. Levi learned that Eren sent money to his mother in Brazil whenever he could. He in turn revealed that his own mother had died when he was young, and he spent most of his teenage years raised by his uncle Kenny. They learned to communicate better, helping one another to learn more words in their respective mother tongues.

Levi and Eren had movie nights when their schedules allowed. They'd find movies in English with Portuguese subtitles or vice-versa. They spent time at the beach, and Eren taught Levi how to surf. Their efforts to learn one another's languages were sometimes rewarding and sometimes hilarious. Levi was still reserved, but his smiles weren't so rare around his Brazilian lover in private.

The sex was mind-blowing. Levi's legs were still sometimes shaky the next day after spending a night with Eren. The man was a machine in bed, but Eren was by no means perfect. He didn't give the impression that he had some kind of natural skills to Levi, but rather he was so fucking determined and stubborn that when he wanted to accomplish something, he just wouldn't accept defeat.

He was terrible at making coffee; he burned it every time. He still tried every morning to brew a pot for Levi when they stayed together, but he was always prepared to pick some up from the coffee shop if his attempt failed.

Eren's housekeeping skills were lacking. He tried, but Levi always ended up going behind him when he tried to clean up after himself, both at Levi's apartment and at his own. He was neglectful of tracking dirt into their living spaces, forgetting to wipe his feet most of the time. He cluttered things up with his tools. Levi had to restrain himself quite often when they would come home to his place together and Eren would immediately, carelessly drop his bag right on the kitchen caddy top, taking up Levi's only real food preparation surface.

It definitely wasn't easy, especially with the language barrier still between them. Eren was worth it though. This relationship, wherever it would end up, was worth more than any Levi had ever had before.

* * *

Three months had gone by. Levi had rearranged his furniture so that his bed was behind his couch, he could easily adjust things so that he had room to pull out the hide-a-bed and he'd mounted a flat-screen on his wall to save space.

Eren was coming over tonight for dinner. Levi had the bed pulled out of the sofa, already made up with sheets, blankets and pillows. A folding table just big enough for two was set up near the kitchenette, along with two folding chairs. A small tablecloth had been laid over the table, and two plates were set along with silverware. Levi had taken care of the setting, but it was up to Eren to take care of the meal.

The doorbell rang...a thing made possible by Eren. He'd bought the kit as a surprise and installed it for Levi, and it worked like a charm. Levi went to the door, opened it and found his lover waiting on the side. Eren's hair was down, brushing against his shoulders. He wore a brown jacket, a white sweater and black pants. He smiled and Levi, held up a bag of takeout and then bent down to speak into his ear.

"Olá, beautiful."

"Same to you," greeted Levi. He gestured at the bag in Eren's hand. "Still warm?"

Eren nodded. "Yes. I promise."

Levi took the bag, and then he reached up with his free hand to cup the back of Eren's head and draw him down for a rather extensive kiss of greeting. There was enough of a chill in the air to make his breath fog as he spoke again.

"Then get in here and let's eat. I've planned something special for dessert."

Eren grinned, and he followed Levi into the little apartment, shutting the door behind him and locking it. "I can't wait," he said in his accented voice while removing his jacket.

* * *

\- The End (?)


	2. Valentine's Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren and Levi have made it as a couple for longer than either of them expected. Now Valentine's day is coming, and Eren wants to celebrate this milestone with Levi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got an urge to write a Valentine's Day story, so I decided to write a second part to this one rather than create it as a separate story. This one is written in Eren's PoV. Reader beware: the sex scenes in this part are more detailed than in the first one. Sorry I didn't get this finished in time to publish it on the actual holiday!

They were coming out of winter and heading into spring, and things were still going strong with Eren and Levi. His mother knew about his cute American boyfriend now. Eren waited for nearly a month to tell her about Levi; not because he was afraid she would disapprove, but because he wanted to be sure it was the real thing first. Carla knew he was bisexual, and her greatest hope for her son was that he succeed in building a life in the United States and be happy. Grandchildren were a thing Eren's mother had come to accept might not happen, even if Eren did end up with a woman instead of a man. She was realistic in that way.

Now the American "lover's day" was fast approaching, only a week away. This would be Eren and Levi's first Valentine's day as a couple. Not to mention, Eren's first one ever. He was excited about it. He was nervous about it. It was already special to Eren, because it was a milestone. Each "first holiday" he and Levi spent as a couple was important to him, but Eren wasn't sure Levi felt the same way.

He'd learned a lot about his boyfriend since they got together at the end of summer. He'd learned how to communicate with him with words as well as body language. Both of them were getting better at speaking each other's mother tongue, but they still had a long way to go.

Levi generally put off a dispassionate front, with his deadpan expressions and bored tones of voice. He was anything but dispassionate though, anything but cold. He was a very caring and passionate man. He was protective of his friends, more patient with those he cared about than he was with strangers. He was also an absolute slut in the bedroom, which Eren dearly appreciated.

Eren was quite sure that he saw sides of Levi that most people never would. He knew his boyfriend's closest friends saw the compassion in him, but the sensuality was Eren's alone to savor. He often thought about the way that steel in Levi's eyes melted to molten silver when they were making love. The way his pale skin would flush pink in the heat of passion. The way his pouty lips would gasp his name. Eren had lost count of how many times he'd nearly skewered himself on a sharp object because thoughts of his boyfriend's orgasm face distracted him.

The one thing Eren feared the most was that one day, Levi would bear witness to him losing his temper. So far he'd kept it under reign and everyone considered him an easy-going, down to earth guy. That was just on the surface though, and Eren always kept his mother's warning about conservative American sensibilities in mind. She said people in the US had much smaller personal space bubbles than Brazilians, and open displays of passion or anger wasn't as common for them as it was for his countrymen.

His mother was a wise woman. The advice she'd given him helped him adjust to life in America and fit in better. He just prayed he wouldn't slip up and if he did, it wouldn't change the way Levi felt about him.

* * *

The day Eren feared was coming arrived sooner than he thought. It happened while he was at work, and he'd just finished maintenance on Farlan's machine when the blond made what Eren took as an obscene gesture at him. The Brazilian's mild expression darkened with thunder, and he lashed out before he could stop and think about it.

"Fuck you too!" Snapped Eren, making a gesture of his own back at Farlan.

Everyone around them stopped working to stare as Farlan blinked in shock at Eren.

"Oi, Eren," Levi called out, getting up from his work station. "What the hell is your problem?"

Feeling he was being unfairly called out, Eren looked between his lover and Farlan. He nodded Farlan's way and voiced his excuse in halting English, his accent heavy. "He insults me, so I do it back!"

Farlan shook his head, eyes wide. "All I did was give him the 'okay' sign, man. He just blew up for no reason!"

Eren glared at Farlan when the blond made the gesture again to demonstrate. "You see? He did it again!"

Levi hurried over to the other side of the work tables, interposing himself between his boyfriend and his buddy. "Hey, calm down. Take it easy. Farlan wasn't flipping you off."

"He did it right in front of you," protested Eren, switching to his own language. "You saw it."

Levi frowned. He responded in kind, and it was his turn to speak awkwardly in a language he was still learning. "It was only the 'okay' sign. He wanted to show you did good job."

Eren's ire faded, slowly being replaced with confusion and uncertainty. He looked at Farlan again, who still had a helplessly bewildered expression on his narrow face. Eren sighed, returning his gaze to Levi once more. "In my country," Eren explained, "we have a gesture like that which means 'fuck you'. Only it's done like this:"

Eren showed Levi the symbol he was talking about, which was virtually the same one Farlan had made upside-down. "You see?"

Comprehension softened Levi's pale features, and his tension visibly faded. "You green-eyed idiot," he said in a tone of subtle fondness. He patted Eren's shoulder to show he was only teasing, and he explained to him slowly in Portuguese.

"Here in America, that sign is like the thumbs-up. Farlan meant no insult to you."

"Oh." Eren flushed guiltily. He looked at Farlan, contrite and embarrassed. "Sorry. I misunderstand."

"Hey, it happens," soothed Farlan. "I'm sorry too. I wouldn't have done it if I knew it was like flipping the bird at you."

The lunch bell went off, distracting them all for a second. Levi studied Eren a little warily after recovering from the interruption. "So we're good now, right? This was just a misunderstanding."

Eren nodded, still blushing with embarrassment. "Yes. I try to remember in the future not to confuse it again."

"All right. Let's get our lunch and go eat outside."

Eren followed his boyfriend, very conscious of all the eyes on him as they exited the work area. He could guess why Levi wanted to eat out at the picnic table, though it was a cold day. It would get them out of scrutiny and give Eren the chance to cool down.

* * *

Eren tried not to squirm under his companion's steady, hooded stare as he ate the bowl of soup he'd heated up for his lunch. He couldn't tell what Levi was thinking while the man's sculpted, attractive face had such a deadpan expression on it. What was it the American's called it? Poker Face? Levi definitely had the technique down to an art.

"I've never seen you go off like that before," Levi said in English.

Eren winced a little, understanding him perfectly. Comprehending English came much easier to him now, though speaking it was still a challenge. "I know."

"I thought you were gonna take a swing at him," Levi went on.

Eren met the smaller male's pewter colored gaze, and he could now detect the curiosity in his eyes. He didn't look like he was mad; more like he was trying to understand what happened.

"I almost did," confessed Eren. "The Brazilian version of that is...ah, how do I say? The rudest sign possible."

"I see." Levi sipped his cup of hot tea, thoughtful. "You didn't think it was strange for Farlan to turn on you all the sudden, for no good reason? He's always been nice to you."

"Yes, he has," agreed Eren. "Sorry, Levi. I acted without thought. It was um...instinct?"

Levi nudged him under the table with his foot, a mildly playful gesture he was fond of making from time to time. "Look at you. I'd have thought I walked in on you cheating with someone, the way your face looks right now. It's not the end of the world, Eren. You just had a moment of culture confusion and truth be told, if I thought someone flipped me off, I'd have probably reacted the same way."

"You would?" Eren smiled bashfully at him.

Levi nodded. "Yeah. Nobody's at fault here, and we cleared it up before it got too ugly. Farlan won't hold it against you and neither will I."

Eren sighed in relief. "I thought you were disgusted with me."

"Over something so small? I'm not _that_ uptight. It just took me by surprise to see you react so violently."

"I have a temper," confessed Eren softly. He stirred his soup and shrugged, slipping back into his mother tongue. "I try not to lose it, but sometimes it's hard. I don't want you to think I'm a hothead. It's not an attractive quality to Americans."

"You think Americans never get mad?" Levi smirked at him. "I've got a bridge to sell you if you believe that."

"Yes, but I was afraid you wouldn't want me anymore if you thought I got angry like that all the time," Eren tried to explain. "Nobody wants a boyfriend that's always getting into fights, right?"

"Wow, you're really worried about this," Levi murmured. When Eren nodded, he sighed. "Look, I'm not saying temper tantrums are hot, but everyone gets pissed off sometimes. That was the first time I've seen a violent streak in you, and you stopped yourself from getting physical. If you'd beaten the shit out of Farlan over a little misunderstanding it would be different, but that isn't what happened."

Eren started to reach for Levi's hand, but he caught himself before doing so. In Brazil, it was common to see couples embracing in public. Most single people couldn't afford places of their own, so privacy wasn't so easy for lovers to come by. Public affection wasn't as accepted in the United States, and Eren constantly had to remind himself of that. He'd been hurt in the beginning when Levi didn't want to hold hands or kiss out in the open, but then Eren talked to his mother and she advised him it wasn't out of a lack of affection on Levi's part. Like most Americans, he was probably just uncomfortable displaying passion in public.

"I'm glad you aren't mad at me," Eren said, restraining himself. "I don't want to embarrass you."

"It would take more than you cussing someone because you thought they were being rude to make me feel ashamed of you," Levi assured him. He noticed the way Eren had clenched his hand. He looked around, biting his lip and seeming to debate with himself. Finally, Levi shrugged.

"What the hell. It's almost Valentine's day."

To Eren's surprise, Levi reached out and took his hand, holding it the way he normally only did in private. The mechanic grinned happily. Words nearly spilled from his lips that he'd been holding back on saying out of fear that it was too soon to speak them.

"I've been saving for it," Eren told him instead. "For the holiday, I mean."

"You don't need to go buying me chocolates or gifts," Levi advised. "I don't need stuff like that. I've never been big on Valentine's day anyhow. It's just another Hallmark holiday."

Eren was visibly confused. He cocked his head to one side inquisitively, stumped by the comment. "Who's Hallmark? I thought the holiday was named after St. Valentine."

"It is," explained Levi. "Hallmark is a greeting card company. You know those commercials you're always seeing about buying cards and shit?"

"Oh! So Hallmark made up this holiday?"

"Not exactly. They just commercialized it to sell stuff. They make a lot of money at consumer's expense on holidays like this. That's why people like me can't stand it."

Eren frowned, crestfallen. "You don't want to celebrate our first Valentine's day together, then?"

Levi hesitated. "I wouldn't say that. I'm out here holding your hand, aren't I?"

Eren nodded.

"To be honest," Levi went on, "Valentine's day was never something I used to celebrate. Hell, most of the time I've been single when it comes around, and it's just fucking depressing to me."

"But now?" prompted Eren.

Levi shrugged. He lowered his gaze, sooty lashes concealing his eyes. "Now I've got you."

The way Levi was starting to blush made Eren want to jump over the table and kiss him right there. Eren's English speaking skills plummeted as his boyfriend's expression stupified him. "So we celebrate together, yes?"

"Yeah," agreed Levi. "We'll do something for Valentine's day. What do you have in mind?"

Eren mentally calculated how much he'd managed to put aside. He didn't have quite enough to cover what he wanted to do, and he frowned. "I need more money. Maybe someone has work I can do for cash."

"Eren, whatever it is you're gunning for, I can cover half of it," Levi insisted. "You shouldn't pay for everything. If we're doing this, let's do it as a couple. Understand?"

Eren did understand, but this wasn't the way he'd wanted it to go. "It was going to be a surprise."

"Oh yeah? Heh. Who'd have thought I'd end up with such a romantic?"

Levi sobered upon noticing the real distress in Eren's expression. He gave his hand a squeeze. "Hey, if it means that much to you, just tell me how much I need to chip in and don't tell me what it is. It can still be a surprise. Just let me help pay for it."

Eren thought about it, and he swallowed his pride. It was a better alternative than giving up on his plans because he couldn't afford them on his own. "Okay. I need one hundred forty dollars. I have enough to pay for the rest."

"No problem," assured Levi. "I can go by an ATM after work and get that for you. Must be something pretty extravagant."

Eren smiled nervously. He just hoped Levi would like his gift. He thought he knew him well enough to have made the right call, but he'd never done anything like this before.

* * *

Valentine's day came before Eren knew it, and he checked his reservation to be sure it was still valid. He and Levi both still had to work a half day, but they had the next day off so they could stay up as long as they wanted tonight. That was good, because if things went the way Eren hoped, they certainly wouldn't be doing much sleeping.

Eren packed up a small suitcase, including toiletries, and he called Levi to advise him to do the same. He probably gave away half of the surprise just by doing that, but there was no getting around it unless he tried to get Levi out of the apartment and stealth pack a bag for him.

Eren met up with Levi at his place, gave him a lingering hello kiss and then asked him to cover his eyes while he drove them to their destination. Levi grumbled about it, but he played along and kept his hands over his eyes for the drive. Eren parked his truck, got out and opened the door for his lover. He helped Levi out of the truck, and once he did that he permitted the other man to take his hands off his eyes.

"You can look now," said Eren.

"About time." Levi took his hands off his eyes and blinked. He turned around to face Eren, his pale features mildly surprised. "You got us a room at the resort?"

Eren nodded and grinned. "The penthouse suite. Two days. Full room service, a balcony Jacuzzi, a full stocked fridge and heated swimming pool. You like?"

Levi whistled softly, turning around again to survey the extravagant fountain at the entry way and the towers reaching up to the sky. "Damn, Eren. No wonder you needed so much money. I don't even want to know how much this set you back. I feel like I didn't pitch in enough. How much more is it gonna cost us if we order room service?"

"Nothing," assured Eren, switching to Portuguese for a moment because he wasn't sure he would say the right words in English. "It's all included in the package. We can use everything in the refrigerator and even take what we want from it with us when we leave. For the next two days, we get to live like rich people."

"I impressed," Levi said in his broken Portuguese. He looked at Eren again, and the tiniest smile formed on his lips. As far as Eren was aware, he was the only person Levi smiled for like that, and it was the sweetest thing ever to him. "Let's get our bags and check in. I want to see where we're going to be living for the next two days."

* * *

Levi again expressed his pleasure once they used their keycard and stepped into their suite. The living room was expansive, with sectional sofas, a modern style fireplace in the center, a massive flat-screen television on the wall and a full entertainment center. An archway separated the living area from the kitchen. Their was a full wooden dining table that could seat up to six people, as well as an island bar of dark wood, matching the granite countertops in the kitchen. The French door refrigerator was black stainless steel and featured ice and water dispensers.

Eren and Levi walked through the place to inspect it after setting their bags down at the door. Levi approached the counter island, picked up a banana from the bowl of fruit sitting in the middle of the island. He sniffed it experimentally, brows going up.

"Huh. It's fresh. Thought it might be fake at first."

"No fake food here," promised Eren. He snatched up a pear and juggled it between his hands. "I made sure to get the best for us." Truthfully, he'd wanted something even bigger but decided they didn't need more than one bedroom and he would never have been able to afford it anyway.

"So I see." Levi put the banana down, ran a finger over the countertop and inspected it for dust. He nodded in approval and he grabbed Eren's hand in a gesture of frivolous spontaneity. "Come on. Let's check out the bedroom."

Eren laughed and followed along gamely. They found the bedroom through a door leading from the living room. Levi opened the door, found a panel on the wall and pointed it out. "Huh. It says 'blinds'. Let's see..."

Levi pressed the button on the panel, and the lovers watched as the vertical blinds on the opposite side of the room opened automatically, revealing massive floor-to-ceiling windows, a sliding glass door and the covered balcony beyond. There were roman columns supporting the ceiling over the balcony. There was a wrought iron patio table with matching chairs near the safety fence surrounding the balcony, and in the center of it was a large hot tub.

"Holy shit," breathed Levi. He looked between the balcony and the round king-sized bed in the middle of the bedroom. He released Eren's hand and walked over to the bed, inspecting the white satin sheets, the gray comforter and the satin pillow cases matching the color of the comforter. Levi ran his hand over the material, his mouth falling open a little. "Real satin. High thread count. Very nice."

Eren smiled widely, thrilled to see his boyfriend so pleased. He wasn't sure what "thread count" meant, but he knew it was a good thing in the little seamster's eyes. Levi had an appreciation for good quality sheets and good housekeeping. Eren's nervousness faded, and he knew he'd made a good choice for a Valentine's Day present.

"Happy Valentines day," he said softly, enchanted by the look of wonder on his boyfriend's face.

Levi looked up from the bedding, met Eren's gaze and that sweet little smile again curved his lips. "Yeah, happy Valentine's day. You officially blew me away with this one, hot stuff."

Eren closed the distance between them, and he put his arms around him for a tight, warm embrace. He kissed the crown of Levi's dark head, breathing in the scent of his shampoo. He really loved the shade and softness of Levi's undercut hair. Black as a raven's wing and smooth like silk, one of Eren's favorite things to do was to rub his face against those locks.

"You smell good," he intoned in English, nuzzling the fragrant hair.

Levi hugged him back, sighed and pressed his cheek against Eren's chest. "So do you."

Eren pulled back a little, cupped Levi's chin and tilted his head back. He lowered his mouth to the other man's and kissed him. Leisurely at first, and then with greater intensity. He slid his tongue past Levi's lips to fence with the American's, and his pulse quickened. It never took much for his boyfriend to get Eren worked up. A touch of those talented, nimble hands, the feel of that smooth skin against his, the touch of his soft lips. Levi didn't know his own power over Eren.

"Hey," Levi said breathlessly, breaking the kiss, "don't rush it, baby. We've got all night and all day and night tomorrow, too."

"Yes," agreed Eren, mortified that he'd gotten so carried away.

The fact that Levi had used the endearment "baby" for the second time since their arrival made him feel a little better, though. Levi wasn't usually the sort to use pet names like that. He'd even told Eren he thought it was stupid, but after about a month of steady dating, Levi fell into the habit without even seeming to realize it. Eren always knew he was doing something right when his boyfriend slipped up and used pet names with him.

* * *

First they helped themselves to some of the complimentary cheese plate that had been prepared and left in the refrigerator for them. Combined with the fruit bowl, it provided a delicious afternoon meal for them. Both of them ate until they were stuffed, and then they collapsed on the couch together to let it digest. Levi clicked on the television remote, logged into his Netflix account and searched until he found a movie with Portuguese subtitles for them to enjoy.

"You always think of me," purred Eren into the smaller male's ear, smiling.

Levi shrugged, brushing it off like he always did when Eren praised his consideration. "It's not much good to watch a movie you can hardly understand, right? Though I think you know English better than you speak it."

Eren gave a lopsided shrug, and he put an arm around the smaller man's shoulders. "Sim. I hear better than I speak. My tongue...it doesn't like to follow my brain."

Levi gave one of those soft, amused little huffs, and Eren blushed with the knowledge that he hadn't said it the way he'd wanted to. Levi soothed his frustration, kissing his jaw. He reached up to ease Eren's hair out of the ponytail he had it in. "You're fine. My Portuguese isn't any better."

Eren accepted that with a soft grunt. They both had a ways to go before either of them were fluent in one another's mother tongue. "I wish I could talk better with you."

"You talk just fine," assured Levi. He rubbed Eren's knee, and then he straddled Eren's lap in a smooth, calculated move. Levi combed his fingers through Eren's hair, now hanging loose and long around his face. "In fact, you know how to use that tongue of yours better than anyone I've ever met. So what if you can't speak perfect English yet? The way you communicate with me beats the fuck out of verbal conversation anyway."

Eren stared at his boyfriend, and Levi grimaced.

"What? Did I talk too fast? I can try to say it in your language if you wa—"

Eren's mouth crushed against his before Levi could complete his sentence, demonstrating the point Levi had made just seconds ago regarding his methods of communication. Levi made a surprised sound in his throat, and it dissolved into an erotic hum. His response was quite favorable. He sucked in Eren's probing tongue and then stroked it with his own. He started to gyrate slowly on Eren's lap, his groin firming up and pressing against the mechanic's.

After several breathless moments, Eren retreated from the kiss to say his lover's name, his voice sounding raw and desperate to him. "Levi..."

"I think," Levi announced in a voice dripping with sensuality, "that we should test that bed now."

He followed up by palming Eren's groin, his hand stroking skillfully over the growing bulge in the taller male's pants.

"Yes," agreed Eren readily.

He mouthed the translucent pink skin of Levi's throat, tracing the fine tracery of powder blue veins beneath the skin. Levi was a little self-conscious about his pallor, Eren had learned. He had the most beautiful body Eren had ever seen, but Levi was on the shy side when they went to the beach together. The first time Eren had seen Levi in his swimmers, he knew for sure he had to have him. Since then, Eren had to convince Levi that he didn't need a tank top when he wore his swimsuit. Every time they went to the beach or a pool, Eren had to coax his lover to ditch the shirt.

Thinking of the toned muscles beneath Levi's clothes made Eren want to see them again, touch them. He started slipping his hand beneath Levi's sweater to stroke his tight abs. He murmured endearments in his language against the smaller male's neck, licking and sucking at a spot until it blood rose to the surface, leaving a berry mark to testify for where he'd been.

"Oi, you know I don't like hickies," protested Levi softly in a dazed voice.

"Just this time," insisted Eren. "It's a special day."

Levi sighed, but he lacked the usual conviction. He allowed Eren to keep going, and another mark joined the first on his throat. He slid his hand up Eren's thigh, humming low in his throat with arousal. He might object to it, but Eren knew Levi enjoyed having his neck sucked on. He could sense his boyfriend's growing restlessness, and he nibbled his ear. His fingers located a pert nipple, and he rubbed it in a circular motion. It got hard enough to cut glass, and Levi's breath caught.

The restriction of his pants was getting more than a little uncomfortable for Eren. He regretted his choice to wear the blue jeans rather than something looser, with more give to it. Losing patience, he reached down with his other hand to lay it over Levi's and guide it to the source of his discomfort. The seamster's skilled hand gamely started fondling him, the palm stroking over the length of Eren's arousal through the denim, the fingers curling to grip it.

"Mmm...Levi," purred Eren in approval. Saints, he loved the way his boyfriend touched him. He always applied the right amount of pressure and despite his bashfulness in public, he was such a thorough and passionate lover behind closed doors.

Eren's hips flexed and he pressed into Levi's touch eagerly. Saying his name always got Levi hot for some reason. Eren did it again, and he ran his tongue over the shell of Levi's nearest ear after uttering the name hotly.

"Fuck," gasped Levi, squeezing Eren's arousal. He turned his head to capture Eren's lips. Their interactions became more urgent, more heated. Their tongues thrust and caressed, masculine noises of desire filling the air around them.

"Take it off," growled Eren, tugging Levi's sweater up. The smaller man lifted his arms to assist, and he wriggled out of the garment as Eren pulled it up over his head. Now shirtless, Levi resumed feeling Eren up. He lay back with the mechanic's urgings, and Eren covered his body with his own.

Levi's fingers started scrambling at Eren's pants, yanking his fly down and unbuckling his belt. He moaned nasally, the sound partly muffled by Eren's mouth. Eren grabbed the longer hair crowning Levi's undercut, and he forced his head back to bare the milky column of his throat. He licked the bobbing Adam's apple before sucking on the hollow of his throat. Eren loved his boyfriend's clavicle, he decided. He adored the perfect, symmetrical v shape of it and the softness of the skin between it.

Eren left his mark there too. He knew Levi would complain about it, but the chill of winter still lingering in the air would allow him to wear those high-neck shirts and sweaters he loved so much. As long as Eren didn't leave marks too high up on his neck, it would be fine.

"Bedroom," Levi gasped when Eren burrowed his hand into the smaller man's slacks, nearly popping the button in his questing. "Let's...go to the bedroom."

"I want it here," insisted Eren. He lifted up a bit, smiling winningly down at his blushing lover. "With the fireplace. Romantic, yes?"

Levi turned his head to look at said fireplace. "I...suppose. Do you even know how to light the thing? I think those are fake logs in it."

"Yes. There's a...um...thingy." Eren couldn't recall how to say "remote control" in English; he was too worked up for that. He got off of his lover, pressing a hand down on Levi's bare, beautiful chest to stop him from sitting up. "Don't move, baby. I have it."

Levi threaded his fingers behind his head and relaxed, smirking up at him. He nodded at the fireplace. "Be my guest. Just turn off the heat if you're going to light that thing. It'll be too hot with the ac going on top of it."

Eren understood well enough what his boyfriend was saying, and he bumped up the electric thermostat on the wall first. He then retrieved the controller for the fireplace, examined it for a couple of minutes and worked out how it functioned. Eren played with the settings for a second before selecting the "ignite" option, and he jumped a little at the initial burst of flames that sprung up in the fireplace. He grimaced and lowered the intensity, then relaxed when it was at a comfortable, low level flame. Eren then dimmed the lights using the remote for that, setting the mood so that there was a soft, fiery glow illuminating the living area.

"Good," approved Eren, setting the remote down. He returned to the couch, and he stopped for a second to admire his partner. Levi really didn't seem to know how gorgeous he was. Lying there on his back, naked from the waist up with one leg bent and his hands casually cupping the back of his head, Levi was the picture of male beauty to Eren. The mechanic let his gaze roam over his boyfriend, and he shook his head with quiet disbelief.

"I can't believe you're mine," he said in Portuguese.

Levi frowned softly. "I didn't quite catch that, gorgeous. What'd you say?"

Eren tried to find the words in English, but he couldn't get his brain to translate it. He shrugged, crawled onto the couch on top of Levi and kissed him deeply. He came up for air moments later to stare into the curious gray eyes of his lover.

"I think you are beautiful," said Eren, giving up on enunciating his original statement. He kissed Levi's throat. "Hot." He kissed Levi's clavicle, again running his tongue over the soft skin there. "Sexy."

"You're the one that's sexy," Levi responded breathlessly. He bucked into Eren's hand when the mechanic palmed him, biting his lip. "Hey...the stuff. Th-the condoms and lube..."

"It can wait," Eren determined. He smiled, and he stroked Levi's shiny hair. "The sex can be later. I want...I want to make you come now."

"Doesn't seem fair," sputtered Levi awkwardly, and he gasped when Eren started kissing his way down his torso. "Eren..."

"Shh. I like when you come."

Levi uttered another protest, this time mixing in some curses with it. Eren wouldn't relent. He unbuttoned his lover's pants, opened them up and eased Levi's cock out of his underwear. He started sucking him off and massaging his balls. Soon he had Levi whimpering, squirming and gasping his name. Eren could completely understand his boyfriend's attraction to hearing him say his name then, because Eren himself got a thrill each time he heard his own name gasped on those lips.

He relaxed his throat muscles to take Levi in deep, pressing down on the smaller man's pelvis with one hand to try and keep him still. He steadily palmed his sack while taking Levi's hard flesh deep. Eren swirled his tongue around the salty tip each time he withdrew, causing a shudder to ripple through Levi's body.

The sounds Levi was making intoxicated Eren. He hummed while he pleasured him, adding vibration to his technique. He grinned around the stiff length he was servicing when Levi's thighs started to tremble. Closer...closer. Eren knew just how much his lover could take before he lost it, and he took advantage of that.

"Eren...ah, fuck! W-wait...why are you stopping?"

Eren got up from the couch, grabbed Levi's hands and stared into his eyes. "Come."

"I was fucking about to, but then you stopped."

Unable to help himself, Eren snickered. "You will. Just come. I will bring...ah...stuff."

"I'm losing patience with your spontaneity," groused Levi, but he allowed Eren to shepherd him into the bedroom. Eren pushed him down on the bed without ceremony, and he winced at the wide-eyed glare he got in response. "Oof, hey, you asshole, don't just—"

Eren jumped on the bed with his boyfriend and kissed away his protests. He kissed him until Levi was breathless and whiny, and then he pulled back to smile and wink at him. "I be right back."

Levi fell back on the bed with a groan, planting his palm over his forehead in what Eren assumed was a completely unintentionally dramatic gesture. "You had _better_ make it worth it to me, Jaeger."

"I will," promised Eren, devouring the sight of him and adjusting his crotch. There was nothing he loved more than a blushing, sexually eager Levi. "Stay, baby. Just wait."

"I'm not a dog," growled Levi, and yet he stayed as commanded.

Eren didn't waist any time. He hurried out of the bedroom to the bags still sitting at the door. He grimaced in discomfort as he squatted before his own suitcase, and he had to adjust his groin again. He was terribly, uncomfortably hard and he needed to get the fuck out of these pants before he split them open.

Unable to stand it any longer, Eren paused to undo his pants and yank them down, along with his underwear. He sighed in relief, stepped out of the garments and kicked then aside. He didn't bother taking his socks off. He grabbed up the lube and the condoms, took a couple of deep breaths and then glanced down at himself. Oh yes, he was in top form for tonight. Eren chuckled. He was going to pound Levi within an inch of his life.

* * *

"Oh God...Eren!"

Eren roughly encouraged his lover, staring at Levi intently as the smaller man bounced on top of him. He tweaked his nipples, stroked his tense abdomen, watched the sweat smear and glisten over the ridges of muscle on Levi's torso.

Eren thrust urgently beneath Levi, unable to tear his gaze off of him. This was turning out to be an even better Valentine's day than he'd envisioned. He gripped Levi's cock, stroking it steadily.

"More," growled Eren haltingly. "So good, Levi."

He felt it happening then, felt the spasms starting deep inside Levi, clenching around his cock. Eren groaned, sat up and embraced his eager companion. He brought his mouth down on Levi's right shoulder, biting playfully before licking the salty sweat that had formed there.

Eren hugged his boyfriend hard when Levi shuddered and moaned. He rubbed his back, thrusting more forcefully inside of him.

"Levi...sweet...Levi..."

Eren lost control of himself then, his fingers digging into the other man's white buttocks. He came inside of him, moaning against Levi's shoulder helplessly. He felt the splatter of his boyfriend's cum on his stomach, and Eren was vaguely grateful that it mostly got on him and not the sheets. Levi hated sleeping in wet spots.

"Mmm...Eren," purred Levi, going limp in his arms. He nuzzled the mechanic's sweaty hair, biting his earlobe teasingly. "Damn, that was good."

Eren agreed, but he was too short on breath to try and speak. He smiled and rubbed his face against Levi's, sighing with relief. He wanted so badly to say the words that people were supposed to speak in such a special moment, on such a special day. He was afraid to follow his instinct though. He didn't want to scare Levi.

* * *

They snacked after that, and then they took advantage of the hot tub on the balcony. They made out, toying with each others' bodies until they soiled the water of the tub with their spunk. It was okay; room service pretty much expected such a mess. That was what Eren told himself anyway. Afterwards they had a couple of drinks and finally retired to bed.

The next morning, Eren woke up to find that Levi was already up having breakfast off a room service cart he must have ordered. He was in one of the complimentary bath robes eating an omelet when Eren joined him, and Levi choked a little at the sight of him.

"Good thing room service already came and went," remarked Levi, his smoky gaze roving over the Brazilian's nudity. "You'd have made that lady's day if you'd come out five minutes ago."

Eren glanced down at his exposed body, grinned sheepishly and shrugged. It hadn't occurred to him that someone else might be in their suite when he woke up. "Should I dress?"

Levi shook his head and smirked again, sipping on a glass of grapefruit juice before answering. "Don't you dare. It's just me now and I've got no complaints over you wandering around in the buff. Come have some breakfast."

Eren walked over to the cart to get a plate and silverware for himself, and he took the lids off of the trays to inspect what they had. He skipped the omelet himself and went for the yogurt and sliced papaya instead.

"Did you sleep okay?" asked Eren once he sat down adjacent to Levi.

"Like a baby," assured the smaller man. He had another bite of omelet and swallowed it before speaking again. "If I had the money and the space for it, I'd get a bed like that for my place."

"We can look at the mattress to find out what kind it is," suggested Eren, switching to Portuguese. "Maybe you could find one like it in twin size."

"I guess that's an option. I didn't think of that." Levi stretched like a cat, covered up a yawn and resumed eating. He paused when he noticed Eren watching him attentively. "What? Something on my face?"

Eren shook his head, smiling fondly at him. "No. I just like looking at you."

"You're so corny." Levi smirked again, spoiling his attempt to critique Eren's romanticism. "So what do you want to do today?"

"Have more sex."

Levi's thin brows shot up. "You've got a one-track mind."

Eren wasn't troubled by the accusation. He'd spent a lot to reserve this suite for them, and he intended to get his money's worth out of it. "Maybe, but we don't get to do it so often."

"Hmm. That's true." Levi pushed his food around on his plate with his fork. "Sucks that work takes up so much of our time."

Eren nodded in agreement. He and his boyfriend tried to reserve their days off for each other, but sometimes they only got one day off a week. Near the end of last month, Eren himself had a work week without a single day off at all. Sometimes he would go home after work with Levi or vice-versa, but they were usually so tired from a long day that they ended up just falling asleep together after dinner. This little vacation was just what they needed, and while they would need to wake up and check out early tomorrow to go to work, they still had the entire day to enjoy this luxury.

They finished eating breakfast, and Eren got up to go have his shower. "Join me?" he offered to his companion.

"I've already had a shower this morning," Levi informed him. His eyes roamed over the taller male, and he shrugged. "But what the hell. Another one's just going to get me cleaner, right?"

Eren smiled at him.

* * *

They spent the day pleasuring each other, enjoying the view from their suite and generally relaxing and enjoying themselves. All day long, Eren debated with himself. There was no question in his mind about his feelings for his lover. He'd fallen hard for Levi, and he felt like he was the one. They'd overcome both cultural and language barriers to get where they were right now, and Eren had every reason to believe it would only get better from there.

His hesitation wasn't due to any uncertainty of his feelings. He was just afraid it was too soon to confess them to Levi, afraid that his passions were clouding his judgment. Eren wondered how long by American standards was long enough to date someone before declaring love for them. Was a few months acceptable, or did he need to wait longer? He didn't want to run Levi off by moving too fast, but every time he looked at him, Eren wanted to tell him he was in love with him.

Levi seemed to pick up on his struggle after catching Eren watching him contemplatively several times throughout the day. He finally said something to him when they went out on the balcony to watch the sun set together.

"What's on your mind, Eren?"

Eren looked at him, and he tugged his robe closed a little more to be sure he was covered up enough. "Hmm?"

"You keep looking at me like you want to say something," Levi pointed out.

"I just like looking at you," excused Eren for the second time that day.

"Tch. I see you make moon eyes at me often enough to tell the difference." Levi turned to face Eren directly, and his eyes searched the taller man's. "The way you've been looking at me today isn't the same. At least three times now, you've acted like you're about to say something but then change your mind. So what's up?"

Damn. Levi really _did_ know him well. Better than Eren thought he did, in fact. He thought he was being so careful, but the guy saw right through him.

"Is there something you want to try in the bedroom?" pressed Levi. He switched to Portuguese in an attempt to clarify better. "You want to play with a position? Afraid I'll get mad if you ask?"

Eren grinned a little and shook his head. Not that Levi's suspicion didn't give him some ideas.

"Then what is it?" demanded Levi.

Eren checked a sigh. This subject obviously wasn't going to be easily dropped, but he was more afraid of telling Levi he loved him than he was of asking him to do something less vanilla with him. He gave up and decided a lie was safer than the truth.

"All right. I want to try something."

"Oh yeah?" Levi relaxed against the railing, casual and interested. He even looked a bit smug, evidently satisfied that he'd solved the mystery. "Like what? I'm open to try new things as long as a tutu isn't involved."

Eren didn't know what a "tutu" was in the first place, so he let that part go. He scraped his mind for ideas, now that the unintended proposition was out in the open. He'd fantasized about many different sexual scenarios with Levi, but most of them were unrealistic and kind of stupid. Eren blamed it on his imagination and some of the movies he'd seen since coming to the states. One idea did spring to mind that seemed tame enough not to earn him the title of a degenerate pervert.

"Blindfolds?" offered the mechanic after a few moments.

Levi tilted his head. "Blindfolds. Is that all?"

Eren looked around, spotted the remnants of the fruit bowl on the island bar through the sliding glass door. "And food."

Now Levi looked the slightest bit confused. "Blindfolds and food," he repeated, frowning a little. "I don't get it."

"I want to feed you while you're blindfolded," explained Eren, "and then have sex."

"Okay...I have to admit, I didn't see that coming."

Neither had Eren, honestly. He'd come up with it on the fly because of being put on the spot. It wasn't a bad idea, though. He could picture it in his head and he thought it was sexy.

"I tie you up—"

"Hey, how much more are you gonna add to this little fantasy?"

Eren smiled. "Just your wrists. We can use this—" he wagged the hanging end of his robe's belt. "It's soft and won't chafe. Then I put the ah...what is it called? Sleeping mask?"

"Oh, you mean the complimentary ones they left us?"

Eren nodded. "Then I worship you."

Levi considered it, his hooded gaze dropping in thought. "It's not the weirdest request I've ever gotten. All right, I'll do it. Just don't dribble anything messy on me like lobster bisque or something."

Faintly surprised that Levi was being so open minded, Eren's heart thudded with excitement. He wouldn't get to confess his love for his boyfriend today, but getting the chance to play games he'd never tried before was almost as good.

* * *

"Oi, I said nothing messy!"

Eren paused in the act of squirting the whipped cream out of the can, halfway through writing his name on Levi's chest with it. The smaller man was lying on the bed with his arms out to the side and both wrists bound. It had taken some creative thought on Eren's part to come up with the bondage system they'd employed. He'd tied both his and Levi's robe belts together, but ended up having to revise it and tie both cloth belts to his regular belt for length. He fed them under the bed mattress and bound each end to Levi's wrists. It worked out pretty well, but it complicated his initial idea to feed Levi with him being on his back like this. Eating while on his back put Levi at risk of choking, so Eren settled for other ways to play with food.

"I'll lick it off," promised Eren.

"You're gonna lick shaving cream off of me? Are you trying to make yourself sick?"

Eren laughed, understanding how the blindfolded male came to such a conclusion.

"It's whipped cream." Eren continued writing his name on his lover's sleek, toned chest.

"It's going to get sticky," protested Levi.

"Trust me," urged Eren softly.

He drew a line beneath his name, and he tweaked both of Levi's pert little nipples, peaking out between the letters. Levi gasped and sputtered, his face coloring. Eren smirked at the reaction, and he put the whipped cream aside and straddled his boyfriend's nude body. Undressed himself, Eren rubbed against Levi intimately as he bent over to start licking up his handiwork.

Sounds of pleasure began to issue from Levi's throat despite his objections. Eren consumed the first letter of his name, licking thoroughly to clean it off. He sucked on Levi's right nipple for a minute, flicking his tongue against it and making the smaller man squirm and moan. He moved on to the next letter, taking his time with it.

By the time Eren finished, leaving behind trails of saliva in his wake, Levi's chest was heaving with lust. Eren felt slippery fluid smearing against his thigh, and he looked down to see that his lover was fairly dripping precum. He rubbed the flushed cap of Levi's cock, watching his face as he stroked his thumb over the little slit in the tip.

"Hunhhh..." Levi shuddered, his biceps bulging as he strained against his bonds.

"So wet," observed Eren with satisfaction. He kept rubbing in circular motions, knowing how sensitive Levi was and reveling in it. Levi's breath was catching with every stroke, and his hips began to thrust helplessly. Eren took pity on him and stopped, because he knew the man had limits to how much he could take and he doubted the restraints would hold if Levi decided to use his full strength to break free of them.

"I have you," soothed Eren, stretching out on his side next to Levi and kissing his gasping lips. He rubbed his belly gently, giving him a chance to calm down.

"Shit," breathed Levi. "I think there's something to this sensory deprivation stuff after all. I thought it was bullshit, but everything's more intense."

"Yeah?" Eren didn't quite understand all of what Levi just said, but he caught enough of it to get his meaning. He blew on the other man's left nipple, watching Levi's skin pebble in response. The nipple tightened up again, and Eren couldn't resist tracing it with his tongue. "So these feel even better when I do this?"

Levi hissed and nodded. "Take it easy on me." His voice was almost a whine.

"So cute," complimented Eren with a grin. He spoke again in his own language. "I don't get to hear you beg very often. I think I like it."

"Not...begging," gasped Levi. His toes curled when Eren gripped his cock and gave it a couple of strokes. "Fuck me. Please, Eren...fuck me."

"You just said you aren't begging," teased Eren.

He was reaching his limits of control himself though. His groin was throbbing steadily, and he was producing just as much precum as Levi. Eren reached for the banana flavored lube he'd bought, having forgotten he'd packed it for this getaway until now. He opened it, took the seal off and squirted some onto his fingers.

"What are you doing?" Levi panted, turning his head blindly at the sounds Eren was making.

"Warming it up for you," explained Eren. "I don't want to shock you with the cold."

Levi frowned. "Warming _what_ up for me? You didn't mention anything about toys."

Eren fought a chuckle. Something wicked took hold of him, and he played along with Levi's concerns. "No, but I did mention food."

"Jaeger, I'm warning you," Levi growled, "if you stick some kind of fruit or vegetable in my ass, I'll break your dick off before breaking up this relationship."

Eren winced. Maybe he was pushing it too much. He wedged his knees between Levi's legs and worked them open. Feeling how much the other man was resisting, he decided it was better to reassure Levi than to let him go on thinking he'd do such a thing.

"I would never do that to you. It was just play."

Levi's tension faded just a little bit. "You'd better not."

Eren shook his head, and he eased his hand between Levi's thighs. The smaller male jerked nervously when Eren's knuckles brushed against his balls, and Eren tried to reassure him in English this time. "Your trust is everything to me, baby. No food is going in there. I promise. Only me."

Levi took a deep breath, and he stopped resisting Eren's attempts. It was obvious that it wasn't easy for him to give up so much control, and Eren used extra care to ensure he didn't startle him further. He slowly spread Levi's legs further to expose him more, and he stroked the inside of one of his thighs to calm him. Eren lightly touched the pucker beneath Levi's sack, whispering to him in an effort to keep him calm. He had to switch back to Portuguese again because he worried he would say the wrong words in English.

"It's all right. It's just me, beautiful. You know my touch by now, don't you?"

"Y-yeah." Levi swallowed, and he relaxed further as Eren stroked the spot gently, carefully slicking lube over it.

"And this is all I'll do until you say you're ready," vowed Eren. His chest ached a little. Levi clearly had more reservations about this than he'd let on before, and yet he was still going along with it. Either it was because Levi felt obligated to do it since Eren went through so much trouble to arrange this reprieve for them, or he was doing it out of love and desire.

Eren prayed it was the second one. He started fingering his lover slowly, watching Levi's face for any changes of expression that might indicate pain. When that flush began to creep back into Levi's face again, Eren was confident that he was getting off on it. Levi's erection had softened a little during the moments he really thought Eren was going to sodomize him with fruit, but now it was hard again.

"Better?"

Levi nodded, and Eren resumed preparing him. He loomed over the smaller male, kissing him deeply while his fingers worked him open. Levi's moans were restrained at first. It usually started out this way, but eventually that passionate side of his always came out. It was just a matter of time and patience.

Eren used every skill he'd learned, both old and new. He nibbled Levi's earlobes, teased his nipples and of course, spoke his name often. It didn't take very long for Levi to drop his inhibitions and become the horny sex kitten that drove Eren crazy. Eren gripped Levi's cock at the base when the other man breathlessly warned he was about to come.

"Not yet," husked Eren. He stopped fingering him and waited, keeping tactical pressure around Levi's shaft to prevent orgasm without hurting him.

"Damn it," moaned Levi, chest hitching.

"I want inside you before it happens," Eren reminded him in halting English. "Okay?"

For a minute Eren thought Levi would refuse, but then he nodded and spoke in a strained gasp. "All right."

Eren nuzzled the seamster's smooth jaw with his lips. He waited until Levi's breathing calmed, waited for the verbal confirmation that he was ready for more.

"Okay," said Levi. "I think I'm good now."

Eren resumed his ministrations, this time taking care not to stimulate too many erotic zones. He was at the end of his rope, barely clinging to his remaining self-control. He wanted to see Levi's eyes, wanted to look into them while he fucked him. Eren let loose a growl, retracted his fingers and grabbed for the condoms.

"Almost," he rasped to Levi when the smaller man whimpered his name.

Somehow Eren got the condom on without breaking it, and he had to sit there with his hands clenched into fists for a minute, clamping down on his passion.

"What...are you waiting for?" fumed Levi. He jerked at his bonds for emphasis, and his toes curled against Eren's shoulders. "You've got me staked out and craving your dick, you Brazilian brat. Stop procrastinating."

Eren couldn't keep up with the rapid-fire commentary well enough to fully understand it, but he knew Levi was out of patience. Eren got into position, pushed Levi's legs further up and back, and then guided himself in. He reached out for the blindfold covering his boyfriend's eyes and yanked it up to unmask him. Levi blinked at the sudden lack of vision deprivation, and then his eyes focused on Eren.

"Fuck, you really look like a wolf right now," breathed Levi. His breath hitched as Eren rocked forward to fill him completely, and then he moaned.

"Is that bad?" Eren smiled tensely down at him, trying not to start pounding him like a lunatic right away.

"No." Levi's black hair feathered out over the pillow beneath his head where his undercut was longer. He looked quietly awed, and Eren wondered what exactly he must look like to his companion right now. He hoped he didn't literally look like a wolf to him.

"Your eyes," said Levi, answering the question Eren hadn't voiced. "They're so intense. Yellow as molten gold."

"Oh." Even in the grips of lust, Eren blushed at the observation. He kept forgetting about how his eyes changed colors with certain emotions. He never stared at himself in the mirror to watch it happen, so it always took a reminder from someone else witnessing it to remind him of that trait. "You...like it?"

"Stupid question," huffed Levi. He rolled his hips, trying to get Eren to move. "I wouldn't stare at you so much when it happens if I didn't like it."

"Good."

Eren started to thrust, angling his hips the way Levi always seemed to like the most. The smaller man's groan confirmed he'd found the sweet spot, and Eren moved a little faster. His hair fell forward as he bowed his head, breath coming out faster and harder.

Levi fit him so perfectly...so snugly. Eren hadn't confided in him about it yet, but he had trouble lasting as long with Levi as he thought he should. Eren wasn't exactly in the habit of timing himself, but he was sure he finished sooner with Levi than he had with most previous lovers.

"You excite me so bad," Eren told him in sloppy English.

Levi gazed up at him again, his breath catching with each pump of the other man's hips.

"Did I say it wrong?" asked Eren uncertainly.

"No," answered Levi. "I understood. It's...nnnhh...it's the same for me."

Eren found the confession heartening, to say the least. He smiled, kissed his lover and stopped talking. It was Levi who spoke next, his voice rough and uneven in Eren's ear.

"Getting close. Eren...gonna...gonna come. Keep it up, baby...just like... _that_..."

Levi's next vocalization came out as a partial scream, and Eren crushed his mouth against the other man's to muffle the sound. Eren loved it when he got Levi off so hard that he screamed, but he was aware of the other guests and staff in the resort. The move was a kindness performed on Eren's part for the sake of his boyfriend's sense of modesty.

Eren kept kissing Levi until the sounds he was making died down to soft, dazed moans. He nibbled his lips, kissed the tip of his nose and kept going.

"Eren," gasped Levi. He'd broken his left wrist free of its restraint, and he grabbed the Brazilian's shoulder. He looked a bit helpless now, flushed and sweaty and utterly spent. Levi wasn't the only one that got off on hearing his lover speak his name in the heat of the moment.

"Again," prompted Eren, his blood now boiling with his lust. "Say again, Levi. My name."

"Hah...Eren," obliged Levi. His fingers tightened on the other man's shoulder, urging him on. "Fill me up, you hot fucking snack."

Eren blasted a string of curses in Portuguese, pushed over the edge. He got up on his haunches, grabbed Levi's hips and started yanking him into his thrusts. Levi started crying out again, but this time Eren didn't muffle it with a kiss. The other wrist broke free and Levi clawed at the bedding, twisting it up in his hands.

Eren tried his best to make it last, tried to draw the encounter out for as long as possible. Just as he was sure he was breaking his record for staying power, Levi gasped something to him that made Eren stop completely and stare down at him.

"What...did you say?"

* * *

He loved him. Levi loved him. He'd said it out loud, and Eren nearly missed it because he was so caught up in the pleasure and excitement of having sex with him. He begged Levi to say it again, just to be sure it wasn't just something his fevered imagination was conjuring up. Then Levi looked directly into his eyes, parted his lips and said it again in a tone of hopeless surrender.

"I said I love you."

Eren stared back at him, his cock pulsing with his heartbeat, and he caressed Levi's face. It happened suddenly; he came so hard that he couldn't draw breath. His body shook with it and his muscles tensed until he feared his spine might snap under the pressure. Eren was vaguely aware of Levi's arms going around him as he buried his face against the other man's neck, straining and grunting with release.

It took him a while to come back to himself. When he could breathe again, Eren took deep, ragged breaths and remained on top of his lover. Levi's fingers were in his hair, stroking it back from his face. Eren lifted up to look at him, seeing the same bewilderment in his gaze that he himself was feeling.

"Was it real, what you said?" Eren dared to ask.

"You mean did I mean it."

Eren nodded.

Levi hesitated, and before Eren's heart could plummet with disappointment, he nodded. "Yeah. I meant it."

Eren tilted his head, suspicious. "You look unsure."

"Not about that," insisted Levi. "Not about how I feel."

"Then...about what?"

Levi sighed, shifting a little beneath him. Realizing he was still inside of him and probably putting too much weight on him, Eren lifted up a bit more.

"The timing," Levi said at last. "Saying it after you busted your ass arranging this for us feels contrived, even though I didn't plan it to come out. Look at you; you don't believe I meant it."

"Levi—"

"And I can't even blame you for feeling that way. To some people, it's only words that don't even fucking mean anything. Everyone goes around telling their partners they love them on Valentine's day, but then a couple of weeks later they dump them without a second thought."

"Levi, wait," begged Eren. "You speak too fast. I want to say something too."

The smaller man closed his mouth, ceasing his tirade with wary attentiveness.

"Valentine's day is over," Eren reminded him once he was sure he had his attention. He smiled. "You said it afterwards."

"Yeah, but it's still within the time frame."

"When would you have rather said it?" asked Eren, trying to understand his boyfriend's logic. "Is there a rule for this?"

"I don't know." Levi dropped his gaze. "I guess I'd have rather said it outside a Hallmark moment. While we were at the beach maybe, or walking to our cars after work together. A casual moment, you know? Not after screwing each other's brains out during a romantic getaway."

Eren frowned slightly. "You think romantic moments are wrong for saying you love me?"

Levi made a frustrated sound. "Tch. I'm kind of fucked up, okay? I realize it sounds backwards to you, but I think it's more honest to say it in a casual moment."

"You aren't fucked up," Eren assured him, relaxing. A smile grew on his lips. "If you meant it, then it was honest. Doesn't matter how romantic the moment was."

Before Levi could argue further, Eren lowered his face close to his, and he spoke in a sincere whisper to him. "I love you too, Levi."

The declaration gave Levi pause. "Yeah?"

Eren nodded. "Sim. Yes. I've wanted to tell you. I was afraid to until now."

Levi considered this, staring into Eren's eyes. "So I love you, and you love me."

Eren grinned. "Seems so. Is it too romantic for me to say it now?"

"Ah..." Levi glanced down at their naked, tangled limbs, then back up at Eren's face again. "Well, your dick's still inside of me. Some would say that counts as romantic."

"Then I'll take it out and say it again."

"Wait, you don't have to—"

Eren withdrew from Levi carefully, ignoring the protest. Once he slid out, he held Levi's gaze and said it again. "I love you. Better this time?"

"It was fine the first time," sputtered Levi, flushing. "I was kidding a second ago."

"Oh." Eren chuckled. "I take things to ah...?"

"Literally," supplied Levi with a smirk of his own. "Yeah, but you're getting better about it as your English improves."

Eren lifted off of him, rolled onto his side and rubbed Levi's chest, feeling the tight ridges of muscle under the fair skin. "You do the same thing too sometimes."

"What do you mean?" Levi rolled to face him curiously.

"Confuse a joke for being serious," explained Eren. "When we talk in Portuguese, I mean."

"Oh yeah." Levi shrugged, dropped his head down on the pillow and sighed. "We've just got to keep working on that."

Eren nodded. "But we love each other."

"Heh. Yeah. We love each other."

Eren propped himself up on one arm to lean over his boyfriend and give him a kiss on the lips. "Then it's all good."

* * *

Inevitably, the time came for them to check out of the resort and go back to work. They went together on their first day back since Levi's car was still at his place. Levi had to ward Eren off when they pulled into the factory parking lot before most of the other workers and Eren took the opportunity to express his affections again.

"Mmph...hey," muttered Levi against the mechanic's lips. "No making out in the workplace, remember?"

Eren looked around. "Nobody's out here."

"Yeah, but someone _will_ be," reasoned Levi. "Save it for after work when you drop me home."

Eren sighed.

"Don't get your feelings hurt," cautioned Levi. "This isn't a new rule. Our holiday together can't change the way we act at work, Eren."

Eren nodded. He understood, but some part of him had hoped that if and when he and Levi ever declared their love for each other, some things would change at least a little. It wasn't realistic of him to expect it, but it wasn't fair to him that other couples could kiss and hold hands in public without much critique from their peers.

This was America though, and to be fair, same gender couples weren't given much more lenience in Brazil than they were given here.

"It's just hard," he admitted softly, not bothering trying to say it in English. He looked at his lover, hoping Levi understood what he meant.

Levi went quiet for a moment, and then he squeezed Eren's knee. "I know. It's hard for me too."

Levi then considered Eren, and he cupped his face in his hands. "Hey, look at me."

Eren did.

"Just because we've got to be more subtle than some couples doesn't mean our feelings are worth less, all right? Do you understand?"

Eren took the words in, and he felt better. He gave Levi a little smile and a nod. "Right. I understand."

Levi kissed him briefly, and then he pulled away. "Now let's go inside and get this day out of the way."

* * *

Eren's work day felt like it lasted longer than usual, but he focused on his duties and tried not to think too hard on the time he'd spent with Levi at the resort. He kept catching himself grinning stupidly each time he replayed that moment in his mind when his boyfriend told him he loved him. One time Gunther asked if he'd smoked something because he was acting so giddy, and Eren quickly reined himself in. Gunther and several other coworkers knew Eren and Levi were a couple by now, but Eren hadn't shared his Valentine's day plans with any of them. That was only his and Levi's business.

It was going to be difficult for Eren to keep remembering not to show his affection too much in front of others, but every time he noticed someone watching his boyfriend with admiration in their eyes, he felt some smug satisfaction.

They could look all they wanted. Levi was apparently oblivious to how attractive he was, and even if he did notice them checking him out, they didn't have a chance with him.

Levi Ackerman was his.

* * *

\- The End (of this part, at least)


End file.
